California Real Estate Law GuideGlendale & Los Angeles

Start by identifying your role, whether buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, neighbor, co-owner, or borrower, and the deadline you are facing, because California property law is several separate bodies of law with their own clocks, and the nearest deadline, such as a sale date, a notice period, or a limitations period, usually decides what has to happen first. Then gather the deed, contract, lease, and notices.

A California buyer who finds an undisclosed defect after closing should document it with dated photographs and expert inspection, gather the Transfer Disclosure Statement and every other disclosure the seller signed under Civil Code section 1102 and following, and avoid destructive repairs until the evidence is preserved, because the claim usually turns on what the seller knew and disclosed. Check the purchase agreement for mediation clauses.

A California buyer whose seller refuses to close can sue for specific performance, because Civil Code section 3387 presumes money cannot adequately remedy a breached agreement to transfer real property, and the buyer can record a lis pendens to keep the property from being sold to someone else while the case is pending. The buyer must have performed, or be ready to perform, their own obligations.

In a California lease dispute, both landlords and tenants should first read the lease and every notice exchanged, put all repair requests and responses in writing, and get advice before withholding rent, serving a notice, or vacating, because a defective notice or an unauthorized withholding can decide the case regardless of the underlying merits. Local rent rules in Los Angeles add further requirements.

If a neighbor's fence, wall, or driveway use crosses your California property line, order a licensed survey, gather the deeds and title report, photograph the area with dates, and avoid tearing anything out yourself, because the remedies range from a recorded agreement or lot line adjustment to quiet title, removal, or an equitable easement. Long use may also have created a prescriptive easement.

If you fall behind on a California mortgage, the trustee can record a notice of default, wait at least three months, give at least 20 days' notice of sale, and then sell the property at auction, but you can reinstate by curing the default until five business days before the sale and may qualify for loan modification protections. Note every recording date as soon as notices arrive.

Do not ignore a demand letter about a California property dispute; instead, preserve every related document and photograph, note any response deadline, avoid admissions or repairs that change the evidence, and have counsel review the letter before you reply, because your response can shape the claims, defenses, and fee exposure that follow. Some letters are required notices that start statutory clocks.

A co-owner of California real property can ask a court to divide it through a partition action, and the court will order a sale instead of physical division if the parties agree or the court finds a sale more equitable, but heirs must usually have their ownership confirmed in probate first, as Amundson v. Catello illustrates. A negotiated buyout often resolves the deadlock sooner.