[NY] Can a co-owner evict a relative who moved into an inherited property without permission?

NY Landlord-Tenant

Liz

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You both then could move to evict her and her tenants. Someone without legal authorization to be there is essentially a squatter, and her tenants would also be squatters. Hiring a local attorney to proceed with an eviction against her could also be a good idea. Under New York's Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, a person occupying property as a licensee whose license has been revoked, or a person who has intruded onto or squatted on property without the owner's permission, can be removed through a summary eviction proceeding after a 10-day notice to quit. (NY Real Prop Actions L § 713) You could even seek funds for any damage she's done with her renovations.

You could also add a civil suit for the harm she's caused by blocking the sale and your ability to list.

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My mother is trying to hold me in a hostage situation when I'm trying to sell my deceased father's home, and she's being unreasonable. I'm at my wits end trying to be civil about it.

Lexi, Chatbot

I'm sorry to hear that you're in such a difficult situation with your mother regarding your father's home. Can you tell me if there are any legal documents, like a will or trust, that outline the ownership of the property?

No, they were divorced. His name alone is on the deed of the house, and I'm the administrator of the estate.

Lexi, Chatbot

Have you had any previous discussions or agreements with your mother about the sale of the home?

I told her I wanted to sell the house, but she pleaded with me that she was going to buy my brother's share of the house and handle everything else involved with the house, but she did not buy his share.

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they'll be able to help with your property sale.

No.

Liz

Hi there! Welcome to AskaLawyer. My name is Liz, and I've been an attorney for more than a decade, and I am here to assist with your legal concerns. Just so you are aware, our service is a legal information only site. No attorney-client relationship is formed from our conversation. So I can best help, how is she holding you hostage exactly?

My mother renovated the house. Nobody told her to renovate the house, she did this on her own free will, and now she wants the money back from the renovations, which would be all fine if she wasn't asking for that amount plus an additional amount, being unreasonable. Because we want to sell the house now, she's refusing to let any broker come into the house to take pictures of the house or move along the sale of the house.

The house was originally worth, when I got a market analysis, $190,000. She put $20,000 into the house. Now, for example, she wants $200,000 plus a third of the additional revenue that the house sells for, which is not fair to me and my brother, because she doesn't have ownership of the house, so why should she get an additional third of the revenue when she should only get back the money she spent on the renovations. Because she is doing this, she is not allowing us to sort things out, and she lives in the house currently.

Liz

When she renovated, did she warn anyone?

We told her not to do it, and she did it anyway. I told her that she needs to buy my brother's share of the house before she does anything, and if she does that, I don't care what she does to the house. She just went in and renovated it anyway.

Liz

Thanks for clarifying the situation. It sounds really challenging. Has she filed anything in court?

I have text messages showing that I told her, as long as she fulfills our agreement of buying my brother's house share, I don't care what she does, and she went and did it regardless. She has hired an attorney to come up with a contract to get her money back, and doesn't want to talk to us.

Liz

But she doesn't have anything on the deed? She would usually need to file a lis pendens or a lawsuit to stop the sale.

She doesn't have anything on the deed. The deed is strictly in my dad's name, and she's stopping the sale by not allowing the broker in the house to take photographs. She is not allowing anything to happen until she gets a guarantee that she is getting her money back. She is preventing access to the house.

Liz

You could seek to evict her, so that she's no longer in the unit. When someone does modifications without any consent or even notice to the actual owners, they usually are not then entitled to force the owner to pay for that work. In fact, making changes could then be seen as a breach of agreement and cause for the eviction. Does that make sense?

Yes, but she also has tenants living in the house.

Liz

Living in the home with her? Did you approve those?

Not directly, I was under the impression that she was going to buy my brother's ownership of the house. She never directly asked me if I approved of having tenants in the house, she just did it.

Liz

Does your brother agree with her?

Absolutely not, he never wanted her in the house in the first place.

Liz

You could also add a civil suit for the harm she's caused by blocking the sale and your ability to list.

The only issue with that is, neither me nor my brother could afford to live in the house. The mortgage is high, and she's the only one who can pay it. I tried to find a lawyer to do contract negotiations, but a lot of them shied away because property is involved. And "the agreement is murky."

Liz

If you sold it though, there would be no mortgage. Normally, in general, the estate is also supposed to cover debts until the property is transferred. You could offer also to allow her to buy it, if she wants it so badly. Also, I apologize as I'm coming up on the end of my work day, but if you have further questions, please let me know. I'll respond as soon as I am back online tomorrow.

Understandable. She wants to buy it at a discounted price, not the price of the market analysis.

Liz

She doesn't have that right though, so you could use the right to evict her as leverage as well.

If I evict her, there's a high possibility she would fight this, correct? This is New York state, by the way. I'm not sure if all laws are universal.

Liz

It's possible she might contest the eviction, especially if she's already hired an attorney. However, since she doesn't have legal ownership or a lease agreement, you and your brother have a strong case. In New York, eviction processes can be complex, but as she has no ownership rights, it is possible. If she did try to claim rights, then it may though need a suit to quiet title.

Is it possible she can use the fact that she is paying the mortgage as a claim to part ownership of the property?

Liz

Paying the mortgage doesn't automatically grant her ownership rights, especially since her name isn't on the deed. However, she might try to argue for some financial interest due to her contributions, but it could also be seen as rent.

I'm just trying to cover all bases and figure out the best solution to this problem, because I don't want to deal with this anymore.

Liz

I completely understand that. Have you offered her mediation?

She is hard set on her terms because she thinks her route is the only fair route. Considering she paid for the renovations that nobody asked her to do. It almost feels like she is trying to hustle us out of spite.

Liz

Which it can then force you to court, where her case would not be as strong as she likely thinks.

She thinks she has something in text messages that doesn't prove her case but only proves mine, which states, "I don't care what you do to the house, as long as you buy my brother's share of the house first, and you can do whatever you want." Now she's trying to act like this agreement was never verbally communicated or communicated through text messages.

Liz

Which that's a rather important "if" statement. She ignored the requirement.

She definitely ignored the requirement and proceeded to do things anyway. And then she tries to make excuses for why she didn't buy his share, but I'm trying to tell her it doesn't matter why she did not buy his share, the fact still is that she didn't do it. But she does not care.

Liz

Have you considered hiring an attorney to remove her?

I tried reaching out to several lawyers, but I don't know which type of lawyer route to go. I'm not sure if I need a contract lawyer, real estate lawyer, or a defense lawyer. Some of them hesitated because property is involved.

Liz

You could look at real estate or landlord tenant.

Okay, thank you. I'm going to reach out to real estate now. Thank you.

Liz

You're welcome.

Liz

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