Ventura County
Real estate litigation for Ventura County property
We do not have an office in Ventura County. We handle Ventura County property disputes from our Southern California offices, appear in the county's courts, and our founding partner has tried cases here.
Where Ventura County property cases are filed
Under Code of Civil Procedure section 392, a case over real property is generally tried in the county where the property sits, wherever the owners live.
Hall of Justice
800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009
General civil cases in Ventura County, limited and unlimited, are heard at the Ventura courthouse.
A new civil complaint in Ventura needs a Civil Case Cover Sheet, and the plaintiff must serve the court's alternative dispute resolution package on each defendant with the complaint. The courtroom comes from the Notice of Case Assignment issued when the case is filed. Confirm the current location before you file or travel.
Quiet title and adverse possession in Ventura County
A quiet title case over property in Ventura, Oxnard or Thousand Oaks is filed in Ventura County Superior Court, and the judge must hear evidence of your title even if nobody answers. An adverse possession claim needs certified records from the county tax collector showing the taxes were paid.
Trust and probate disputes
Ventura Superior Court hears probate matters and allows remote appearances in them. Confirm the department with the court before you file.
Where the records are
Ventura County Clerk and Recorder, 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009. This is where deeds, liens and other recorded documents for Ventura County property are kept.
How we work on Ventura County cases
The court offers remote appearances in civil and probate cases. We appear in person when a hearing or trial requires it.
We conduct trials ourselves. Josué Cristóbal Guerrero has personally tried cases in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Kern and Ventura counties.
We usually charge a flat fee for litigation. Most matters cost about $5,000 to get started, and a monthly amount follows based on the size and complexity of the matter. Costs such as expert witnesses and filing fees can be extra. Among the real estate cases we handle, the average lasts about ten months. We cannot promise any result.
What we handle
- Real Estate Litigation
- Quiet Title
- Partition Actions
- Easement Litigation
- Adverse Possession
- Title Fraud
- Non-Disclosures
- Trust Litigation
- Probate Litigation
Sources
Call the firm
Describe the property and the dispute so the firm can assess whether it is a matter it handles.
Call our intake team. If your matter fits, we schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an attorney. Document review starts after you retain us.
Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship, and please do not send confidential details until we have agreed in writing to represent you.
Our offices
Common questions
What is the difference between adverse possession and a prescriptive easement?
Adverse possession gets you ownership. A prescriptive easement gets you a specific right to use someone else's land. The elements are the same, hostile, open, notorious and continuous for five years, with one difference: adverse possession also requires paying the property taxes.
Can I stop a neighbor from crossing my land if they've used that path or driveway for years?
It depends on whether they ever had your permission. Open use of a shared driveway or path for more than five years without permission can create what is called an unperfected prescriptive easement. To put it on record, the neighbor needs a judgment in a quiet title lawsuit. If the use was by permission, it cannot ripen into a right at all.
I just bought a house and found out the neighbor's fence is on my property. Do I have to accept it?
Not necessarily. Get a survey first to be sure you are right. In general a fence belongs to whoever's property it stands on, so a fence inside your line is usually yours. A fence on the line is a common boundary fence, and neither neighbor can change it without the other's permission or a judge's order.
What should I ask a real estate lawyer before I hire them?
Start with this: do you try cases yourselves, or do you refer them out? Then ask how much of the firm's work is real estate litigation, whether they represent individuals rather than investors and banks, how they charge, and how long they expect your case to take.