If I am not named in a law suit, can I file motions pertaining to it ?

[kaitala]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I and my husband bought into a 55+ co-op but are underage, his mother is life tenant. The maintenance fees are in default (she was responsible for paying but didn't, oral agreement between us). We were never notified of default, or of any legal proceedings that took place. a motion was granted to Enforce litigant's rights and revoke membership certificate, despite mother-in-law being in compliance with a previous legal settlement.

This can result in the loss of our financial interest, approximately $43000. (purchase price).

Since I was never named in the suits, can I file motions regarding them, since I have financial interest in the property? If I must file separately, how do I go about that? What do I file?

 

[tranquility]

Generally, no. If you join the lawsuit because of your interests, you may. I think it is called intervenior.

 

[latigo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I and my husband bought into a 55+ co-op but are underage, his mother is life tenant. The maintenance fees are in default (she was responsible for paying but didn't, oral agreement between us). We were never notified of default, or of any legal proceedings that took place. a motion was granted to Enforce litigant's rights and revoke membership certificate, despite mother-in-law being in compliance with a previous legal settlement.

This can result in the loss of our financial interest, approximately $43000. (purchase price).

Since I was never named in the suits, can I file motions regarding them, since I have financial interest in the property? If I must file separately, how do I go about that? What do I file?

Yes, it is possible to apply to the courts for permission to intervene in a lawsuit in which the applicant is not a named party.

That is, provided that the motion is timely and it is shown that the proposed intervenor has a recognizable legal interest in the subject matter of the action. And the nature of the pending proceedings and the issues presented are such that a ruling thereon may adversely affect those interests. Plus, a finding by the court that the movant’s interests may not be effectively advocated by the existing parties. (See New Jersey Court Rules Rule 4:33-1. Intervention as of Right)

However, you seem to have some serious problems to overcome.

One is the timeliness of such a motion. Because everything you describe is in the past. Like “a motion (default order) was granted”.

And since you were not a party at the time the court entered the default order, I see no means whereby you would be in a position to seek relief from that ruling. That is, have it vacated or set aside.

Also, considering that this deal was somewhat surreptitiously arranged in order to skirt the rules governing cooperative housing for the elderly –meaning you and hubby didn’t qualify – how do you intend to address the issue of having a bona fide legal interest at stake?

If what I suspect is the case, and I am perhaps surmising more than justified, mother-in-law acted as a straw man. And that there is nothing on record to document your interest in the property.

Otherwise it seems reasonable to assume that you two would have been notified from the beginning of the proceedings had you been recorded owners.

Mine are just comments. What you and your husband need to do is to spend some money with an experienced real property lawyer and quickly.

 

[kaitala]

One is the timeliness of such a motion. Because everything you describe is in the past. Like “a motion (default order) was granted”.

And since you were not a party at the time the court entered the default order, I see no means whereby you would be in a position to seek relief from that ruling. That is, have it vacated or set aside.

Also, considering that this deal was somewhat surreptitiously arranged in order to skirt the rules governing cooperative housing for the elderly –meaning you and hubby didn’t qualify – how do you intend to address the issue of having a bona fide legal interest at stake?

If what I suspect is the case, and I am perhaps surmising more than justified, mother-in-law acted as a straw man. And that there is nothing on record to document your interest in the property.

Otherwise it seems reasonable to assume that you two would have been notified from the beginning of the proceedings had you been recorded owners.

Mine are just comments. What you and your husband need to do is to spend some money with an experienced real property lawyer and quickly.

Thank you for your thorough reply. I truly appreciate it!

Fortunately, we did the arrangement all above board. We were granted by resolution of the Board of Trustees of the co-op, permission to purchase the co-op, under the condition that she was named Life Tenant, and was to reside full time at the property. We are in compliance with that portion of the agreement.

What is on record to document our interest in the property is the sales contract, the membership certificate to the co-op stating hubs and I as members specifying 100% security interest and mother in law as life tenant, same on Proprietary Lease, and the Resolution by the board permitting us to purchase.


We did feel we should have been notified as the by laws state that members must be notified in the case of default, giving 20 days to respond.

The plot thickens from there. Mother-in-law made legal settlement, via Stipulation of Settlement to pay on arrears (current maintenance fee due plus $100) per month. She was in compliance with that agreement when the notice to enforce litigant's rights was given and the order granted to revoke cartificate. The premise for granting said order was that she was NOT in compliance at the time. All of that was filed incorrectly in my opinion and should be vacated.

It's a mess. We can pay the arrears, but that does not negate the order to revoke certificate, and I need to know how to make that go away. If mother-in-law had her life together she'd be able to handle it, herself but I don't trust her to. She couldn't handle making the maintenance payments, so I don't trust her to take care of this.

The co-op changed attorneys for the order to revoke. I feel, since he had a copy of the ledger showing her payments, that he acted unethically. should ethics charges be filed?

 

[tranquility]

Except for a couple of pages in a long forgotten book, I've not seen an intevienor action but suspect you will not be able to get a settlement vacated. Latigo's summary seems to say much the same. If you have a suit, it might be against mother in law for acts against the residual estate by the life tenant. (Waste?)

I don't understand the claim of ethical breach. Perhaps you can expand on that.

 

[kaitala]

Except for a couple of pages in a long forgotten book, I've not seen an intevienor action but suspect you will not be able to get a settlement vacated. Latigo's summary seems to say much the same. If you have a suit, it might be against mother in law for acts against the residual estate by the life tenant. (Waste?)

I don't understand the claim of ethical breach. Perhaps you can expand on that.

The ethics claim would be based on:

The new lawyer who filed the Motion to Enforce received a copy of the Stipulation of Settlement, stating that MIL (Mother In Law) would pay current maintenance fees, plus $100 per month. Proof of service was included in that Stipulation of Settlement packet.

The new lawyer was in possession of a ledger showing that MIL was CURRENT on that settlement. He filed the Motion anyway, with the whole reason being that she had defaulted on the settlement.

No proof of service of the Notice of Motion to Enforce was included in court documents.

MIL claims not to have been served nor to have appeared.


How could he ethically file that motion when she was in compliance with the settlement?
Why was no proof of service of motion to enforce included in documentation?
How could a judgement have been entered other than a default judgement if she didn't appear, wherein a notice of default judgement should have been sent? Does that differ in Chancery division?

 

[tranquility]

Not really. You have some suppositions, but nothing that would lead to a successful complaint. Your remedies lie within the court.

 

[festival]

In addition to legal action, I would take your case to your board on an emergency basis. Explain the mistakes and find out from the board why they let this happen. Legal action is usually first approved by the board. Get the board to commit to straighten this out, but make sure you follow up to make sure that they do.