Today, the housing market is going up and a lot of the people are looking to buy houses because interest rates are really low. However, buying a new home is a lot of work and procedure, especially for the first time buyer.
When it comes to closing, sometimes there is one important legal issue left unattended: the type of ownership if there is more than one buyer.
Laws and practices: In New York, you can own a property in three different ways:
1. Tenants in Common: means each one owns a particular percentage and each owner’s family member has the right to inhabit the owner’s share. If it is 50/50 then, for example, if mom owns 50% and son owns 50% so if mom passes away, if there is no will, her share will pass to her surviving children in equal share.
2. Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship (“JTRS”): whoever survives will take the share of whoever is deceased.
3. Tenancy by Entirety – Husband and wife, similar to Joint Tenancy with right of survivorship. Except with JTRS it could be any person, not limited to husband or wife.
Story: Mrs. Lee has 4 children. When she bought a house, she had to add one of her sons on the deed because she did not have enough income to get a mortgage, so her son helped her to apply for the mortgage and bank requested both names must be on the deed. The son got married and left the house. One of her daughters lived with her and took care of her and helped mother pay some of the mortgage and expenses on the house. However, after Mrs. Lee passed away, the son asked the sister to leave. He claims that he owns the house 100%. The market over the last ten years had gone up so much that the house was now worth close to $1 million. The son wants to sell the house.
The first question to ask is “show me the deed”. Mrs. Lee’s deed shows that she and the son owned the property as JTRS, which means, if Mrs. Lee is deceased, then the title is vested in the son’s name. No one paid any attention when Mrs. Lee was alive! What a loss to the sister, not only her mother, but also the place she lived for over 30 years.
Conclusion: If there is more than one owner on the deed, consult your lawyer as to what type of ownership you want at the Closing. If you know the house is owned by your parents and one of the siblings, double check the deed periodically. One can actually look up deed information free of charge. If the property is located in New York City, one can look up City Register’s Acris system http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP/. If in other counties, one can go to county clerk’s office to check deed information.
 |
Jacqueline Huang Huang & Associates, P.C. 6402 8th Avenue, Suite 405 Brooklyn, NY 11220 Telephone: (718) 435-666 Email: jackiehuang@huanglawfirm.com  |
