“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

September 25, 2009 12:50 PM

Can you recommend a good (and reasonably priced) real estate lawyer in the San Francisco Area?

I'm in the East Bay, but San Francisco is fine.

I've own a piece of property with someone else for 7 years. My buying partner has suddenly decided she just wants to stop paying and walk away. No, we don't have a funky mortgage and aren't really in trouble mortgage-wise. I need someone who has experience dealing with joint tenancy issues so I can figure out what my options are at this point.

I understand that lawyers cost money, but I also need someone who has a reasonable fees as right now I am suddenly faced with paying for everything on my own until the matter is settled.

Thanks in advance.

posted by crayon to Law & Government (2 answers total)

"Reasonable fees" are in the eye of the beholder, but given living expenses in the San Francsico area, any lawyer worth his salt is likely to be rather expensive.

You would do better asking for recommendations of qualified lawyers, contacting them, and seeing if the lawyers would work for you on some sort of payment schedule, in which you didn't pay all their fees up front.

I have no idea if any would do that, but considering the market you're in it's a way to approach the problem.
posted by dfriedman at 6:32 PM on September 25, 2009

Best answer: I am a lawyer, but not your lawyer, and I don't practice real estate law or know anyone who does. This is not legal advice.

However, there are quite a few lawyer referral services in California (this link is from the State Bar of California). Some of these will offer you an initial consultation for a very low cost. At the very least, it could be a good place to start.
posted by tellumo at 12:35 AM on September 26, 2009