Bankruptcy: California Homestead Exemption Increase On January 1st, 2021, the new California Homestead Exemption amount went into effect, exempting a minimum of $300,000 equity, up to $600,000, adjusted annually for inflation. The old California exemption was woefully low for modern real...

Real Estate Transactions: Legal Vs. Equitable Title A quiet title action seeks court assistance to establish the plaintiff’s ownership of a property in opposition to a defendant’s claim. This is a dispute over who holds the “title” to the land. However, the quiet title action...

Real Estate Transactions: Deed of Trust Vs. Mortgage If you are buying real estate in California for the first time, you might be surprised that the bank or other lender financing your purchase is securing the loan with a “deed of...

Real Estate Transactions: 3 Stages of a Transaction In this post, we will outline the basic steps of a real estate transaction in California. For the terms used in this post, see our previous post, “Real Estate Transactions: Basic Terms.” The steps in...

California’s One-Action Rule The “One-Action Rule” under California real estate law is actually two rules that work together to protect borrowers from harassment suits by the lender. The law is set out in the California Code of Civil Procedure Section 726....

This is the last installment in our 4-part series discussing the typical steps for a California real estate buyer when defects are not disclosed in a real estate sale, which are likely similar to the steps you may encounter for other...

This is the third installment in our 4-part series discussing the typical steps for a California real estate buyer when defects are not disclosed in a real estate sale, which is likely similar to the steps you may encounter for other...

This is the second installment in our 4-part series discussing the typical steps for a California real estate buyer when defects are not disclosed in a real estate sale, which are likely similar to the steps you may encounter for other...

This 4-part article series will discuss the typical steps for a California real estate buyer when defects are not disclosed in a real estate sale, which are likely similar to the steps you may encounter for other real estate disputes as...

Partition Actions: Types of Tenancy In order to understand the likely result of a partition action, you need to know the kinds of ownership recognized by California law. A partition action is never the best-case scenario, so this short guide is...