House title by adverse Posession or quiet title?

[John Se]

What is the name of your state? Arizona
For my Mother in law: My Mother in law (Sandra) has lived in her parents house since 1969 when her mother (Gene) and father (Orville) moved to Alaska. Sandra has paid to live in the house and treated it as her own by paying for maintenance over the years. Many times over the years Gene has made deals to sell the house to Sandra but always reneged. In 1993 Sandra obtained a written agreement to sell with a price and payment terms from Gene. My Father (a RE Broker) set up an escrow to perfect the transaction. Following the preparation of documents Gene once again reneged. Since 1988 Sandra has paid all taxes, maintenance, and insurance and paid Gene per the agreement. Title is held as community property, Orville has since passed away intestate. Gene is now making statements about selling the house and she has six children, half money grubbing. This house is my MIL's only potential asset and Gene owns two other houses in AK and land in AZ, Does Sandra have a claim to get clear title by Adverse Possession or Quiet Title?

 

[divgradcurl]

Does Sandra have a claim to get clear title by Adverse Possession or Quiet Title?

No. Adverse possession requires that the initial "entry" onto the property be "adverse" to the property owner's rights. It appears from your post that your MIL was paying rent -- renters generally can never adversely possess a property they are renting, unless they are evicted and then never actually leave the property.

It doesn't sound from your post that your MIL has acquired any ownership interest in the house -- but if you want to be absolutely sure, contact a real estate attorney in your area, maybe a review of ALL of the facts of the situation will turn up something in your MIL's favor...