Quick Claim Deed question!

This is in Washington State. 2 years ago I purchased a home with an older friend. At the time he had quick deed made up so the house would go to another friend of his....however, we were told that this deed had to be signed again a year after the purchase.(?) However, this person never filedthis quick claim deed. The co-tenant died this year,nothing was ever redone....
and now this other person is claiming to own half the house....however when I called the title company to confirm all of this and to see what was going on, they told me that there is no record of a quick deed anywhere and that I own the home only. What exactly are the rules and regulations of a quick claim deed? I amvery confused and need some good advice.On my paperwork all it says is that "if one co-owner dies...the other co-ownwer gains full ownership (right of survivorship). Help!

This sounds very wierd. Why would your older friend "quit-claim deed" his interest in the property to another person soon after purchasing it? Are both of you on the mortgage?

Answer these questions and perhaps the attorneys can attempt to answer yours.

Thanks for responding so quickly. My friend had cancer and knew his time was limited. And yes, both of us were on the mortgage.
Joint tentants with right of survivorship....not as tenants in common, or as community property, if that helps at all.

Still it seems wierd. Seems like if he wanted to pass his interest on to someone else, you would have taken title as tenants in commone rather than jointly and since it seems that you are bothered by this other gentlemens interest in your home, you should have prohibited your friend from doing this in the first place
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It seems to me that if he has a quit-claim deed signed by your friend, recorded or not, he's got an interest in the home.

Were you aware that your friend quit-claim deeded his interest to someone else?

I am not an attorney so I'm not sure if both of your signatures were required to successfully convey title or not. Homeguru???

You know the more I think about this the more I think you should contact a real estate attorney right away. There are ways to severe a joint tenancy like bankruptcy or divcorce, but this doesn't seem like on of them. This is a very complicated matter, more complicated than it seems. Call an attorney right away, because it's possible beating the guy to the county to record an the proper documents might be enough to void the quit-claim deed.