Scam, deception, or what?
in Law ·
Daniel Roberts72 said:First, check the property records at the County Recorder's office. From there, you’re looking at two possible scenarios:
1. If the apartment is already registered in their names, then your father clearly signed some kind of contract. In that case, you might be able to void the agreement based on his limited legal capacity. You would need to petition to have his capacity revoked, request legal guardianship over him, and then initiate the legal proceedings to annul the contract.
2. If the apartment is still legally in your father's name (which is much more likely):
you need to act now to ensure they don't end up seizing the property down the line.
There are several ways to handle this—ranging from a deed of gift with a life estate reserved for him, to a life care agreement. It all really comes down to what you and your father decide is best...
this is definitely
+
if you're dead set on filing criminal charges, you send that report over to the District Attorney's office.
they pass it along to the police, and then you'll eventually get a decision on whether or not they're actually going to prosecute—if they decide there aren't enough elements of a crime, they'll give you a window of time to decide if you want to pursue it privately.
but hey, you also have to keep in mind that for a huge chunk of property crimes, the whole thing is handled via a private prosecution.
that said, having someone held criminally liable is mostly just useful as a foundation if you want to sue for damages down the road (so, if the place is in her name, you can go after the apartment itself, but if it isn't... well, if she's acting in good faith, you won't be getting the apartment back, you'll just be looking at monetary compensation).
if your main goal is just protecting the apartment, those suggestions I mentioned earlier are the real way to go—because with the county land records, everything hinges on the date the contract is filed. So, if the place is still in your dad's name and there isn't some kind of lien or cloud on the title showing someone else is claiming rights to it, you can just sign a contract, file it with the county, and boom—done.
seriously though, hire a lawyer.
good luck!