Can someone give me an objective answer as to who's wrong/who's right?

Question

There is a father with two daughters I'll call "A" and "B". In Oct. 2005, B and her significant other were trying to purchase a home in the same subdivision as A; in fact it was behind A's house, just up a steep hill. The said home's land ran down over the hill to a small level slip that is adjacent to A's property. B and her sig other had some credit issues, werent' able to secure a loan and the father purchased the home and told them in 1-2 years when you get more stable, I'll sell the home to you at the same price I bought it for. He got the home for around $15-20K less than its appraised value-it was a repo. Later than fall, A's hubby began clearing off the land that was adjacent to their yard and one day Dad was at A's house and told her and hubby before he sold house to B he was going to deed that bit of land to A and hubby because it wasn't of any use to B and s/o since it was at the bottom of a very steep hill they'd have to navigate to get to it...

...and it was adjacent to property. Now daughter B and s/o are in the process of buying house and they just found out that Dad is going to give daughter A this small slip of land and they're mad. They say it's taking from their property value, and Dad never discussed it with them. They've done a lot of work to the house and it now appraises for about 50K more than the price Dad paid for it and he is still selling it to them at his the price he bought it for. They say it's not Dad's property to give away, but Dad is the only name on the deed at this point. Who's right, who's wrong?? Thanks!

FYI--The Dad says he discussed this with B and her s/o, but B can't remember (she's terribly forgetful) and her s/o says no such discussion ever took place, yet the Dad says he most certainly mentioned it to them. And now A is in the middle.

To add further....this division can be done, Dad has checked it out. And for the last year+ B and s/o have given the $ each month for mortgage and taxes to Dad. This slip of land is probably less than 500 square feet and the value of it is probably less than $1000.

Actually, it's B's significant other that has the real problem with it, not B. He's the one who's voiced opposition.

Answer 1

Honestly, Dad should not have done that. When Dad bought the house, the understanding was that he was not really acting as owner, that he was doing it to help B and her family. So when Dad goes and decides to split up the property, of course B is mad because she thought Dad was originally doing all this to help her out. I think if Dad first approached B and said 'Since I'm doing you this big favor with the sale of this home, I'd like US to do a nice thing for A by giving her that sliver of land at the bottom of the hill" that would have been better
Of course since no one can go back in time, at this point Dad should apologize to B for not including her into the decision and then ask her to let it go because, after all, she is still getting a really nice gift from Dad and she should try to see the big picture
Dad should point out that he likes to help BOTH his daughters out whenever he can.
Good luck, hopefully B can get over it and realize she has a great Dad who loves her AND her sister!!!

Answer 2

The question is easy... ALWAYS GET STUFF IN WRITING....

If you do have this agreement in writing and can prove any improvement costs and house payments etc… that the people put into the house you may have a case in court.

My suggestion is, “You better get the house in your name.”

What you need to do is by county records find out how much the total land is worth without improvements (AKA House, Garage, etc…) then find out how much the strip of land is worth on its own that father wishes to sell off to other party. That will help you determine the value of your loss to the overall property value.

Personally it does not sound right as for money value. But you need to check the land value really before getting into a tirade. It might only devalue land B value by a small amount.

B may have no recourse in the matter if receipts were not saved and there was no agreement to even sell the house to occupant on paper.

Another thing is that on the TAX rolls land A will be bigger and land B will be smaller. You need to take care of this now. (B is now paying the city, county tax for land that A will own and HAS been doing so since the purchase of this real estate.) Is DAD is paying the TAXES?

Answer 3

I hope Dad explained to B and her SO that this is what he planned to do and that they agreed to still purchase the house from him in 2 years for the same price. It sounds like that is not the case.

Since Dad made this agreement with B, he should either 1) honor the agreement and sell them the entire lot and house as stated, or 2) discuss this new arrangement with them and agree on a new value.

That would be the right this to do. It's never a good thing to go behind someone's back or to make changes in an agreement without the consent of all parties involved.

If your dad goes through with this, he could case a riff between himsel, A and her SO and B and her SO.

Answer 4

it seems to me that B is over-reacting a little bit. with family, i would guess this is more of a temper-tantrum than a real concern for the land. I am really surprised that B is being so ungratefull. Dad certainly didn't have to buy the house for her, and she should be thankful for all of his help. if A is REALLY wanting to keep the peace, maybe some sort of payment could be offered to B for the "value" of the land. why can't everyone sit down, discuss the problem. find out why A wants the land, find out why B wants teh land. if B had a legitimate reason for wanting to keep the land, let her have it. if it is just about the value of a small patch of land, that seems a little petty to me.
Maybe you should think about getting someone in to help with the discussion. a Pastor, close family friend, oldder relative, something like that, might be able to keep things civilized until you can reach an agreement.
I hope this helps

Answer 5

If there is still a mortgage on the property, the lender may have the last word. They would need to relinquish their rights to the property before it can be separated. This is not something they may be willing to do. In any case, the father should stick to his original arrangement. In the end, he is the one who actually owns the property and will make the final decision, contingent upon getting bank approval. There could also be restrictions on what can be done with the property by the county or on the deed. Some subdivisions require lots to be a certain size. I think you need to do some further investigating.

Answer 6

Your daughter has put a great deal into this home too. First of all are you sure you can deed a small parcel like that in a sub division. You just secured the loan right they have made the payments and your not out any money? Sounds like you have every ones best interest at heart but, If you borrowed money from the bank and the bank decided you didn't need a part of the land you picked out and gave it away how would you feel.