Ask the TITLEMAN™ - Transfer to Trust; Quiet Title

by John T. Lotardo aka TITLEMAN™
Sr. VP/General Counsel, Stewart Title & Trust of Phoenix, Inc.

Q. My mother passed away recently and left me her house, in which I now live. The house is paid for and was in her living trust that she set up 12 years ago. I am now setting up my own trust and would like to transfer the house to my trust so I can arrange the beneficiaries for my estate. I believe my mother originally used a quitclaim deed to transfer the ownership of the house into the trust. The house is legally mine now, but the deed is in the name of my mother’s trust, not in my name. I’m wondering what the proper procedure is to transfer the ownership of the house from her trust into mine. Thanks.
A. Believe it or not, it sounds like you have part of the answer in your question. From a title insurance standpoint, the property is still titled in the trust of your mother. The terms of the trust should outline who is entitled to it. Since every trust is different, you need to review the trust carefully. Are you the named successor at the time of your mother’s death? If your mother was the trustee of the trust, who is the successor trustee? If the trust states that you are to get the property after your mother’s death, then it is up to the current trustee of the trust to deed the property out of the trust. Don’t forget to disclose the name and address of the beneficiary(ies) when deeding out of your mother’s trust and deeding into your own trust since Arizona law requires this. Good luck.

Q. I am a paralegal in town and our firm represents the court-appointed receiver in a case. The receiver has seized assets of a man and his corporations, and so, of course, he is not a very happy person. I would imagine that money is very tight for him since his business was shut down and placed into receivership. He is accused of operating an “investment ponzi scheme.” Well, he recently filed three Quiet Title Complaints in Court, claiming that he holds an interest in each of the three properties named as an adverse possession owner. I spoke to one of the property owners who stated that she does not know of him or any of his companies. It’s interesting that all three properties are in foreclosure. I contacted the trustee handling the foreclosures and they were very surprised about the filings and said they have no idea what is going on. Another interesting fact is that two of the three property owners have recently been in bankruptcy. The third owner now lives in another state and is supposedly filing bankruptcy very soon. My question is: Do you know what he hopes to gain by filing these quiet title complaints? Perhaps he plans to show up at one of the trustee’s sales and claim his lien in hopes of getting some fast cash? He must have a reason for spending so much time and effort.
A. Thank you for your email. It is quite interesting about the gentleman you speak about. I don’t have enough information to understand his motives fully but it does seem he thinks filing such a quiet title can cause problems in the foreclosure process. It could be he is merely attempting to delay the sales—the assertion found in the quiet title actions should give a hint of his intent. More than likely, the trustee handling the sales will have to evaluate whether or not this effects their pending foreclosures. Are the sales under the direction of the same receiver, or, are the lenders merely foreclosing? From the information you give, it sounds like he means to cause even more problems than he already has—this time for the lenders.

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Copyright John T. Lotardo. All rights reserved. John Lotardo (aka the TITLEMAN™) is Senior Vice-President and General Counsel for Stewart Title & Trust of Phoenix, Inc., and State Underwriting Counsel for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. He is a member of the National Advisory Councils for GoGetEscrow.com, GoGetLoan.com, GoGetNotary.com and GoGetRealEstate.com. The information supplied is of a general nature and should not be relied upon as comprehensive legal advice. Please consult with your own local legal counsel. For more about John, visit: www.GoGetEscrow.com/Get/Titleman or www.AskTheTitleman.com.