Property Disputes
A California Seller Did Not Disclose Defects: Claims, Deadlines, Letters
What the Transfer Disclosure Statement requires, why "as is" is no shield for known defects, and the deadlines for a claim.
Read guideProperty and Neighbor Dispute Guides
Trees, fences, drainage, property lines, personal property after a breakup, real estate deals and other disputes over things you own. These 14 guides are checked against official California and federal sources.
Property Disputes
Airbnb Guest Damage Claims: A California Host's Guide to Getting Paid
What California short-term rental hosts should document after guest damage, and how a platform claim, a direct demand and small claims fit together.
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Property Disputes
Construction Defect Claims on a New California Home: The SB 800 Process
The SB 800 notice, the builder's response deadlines, repair or cash offers, and the time limits for each kind of new-home defect.
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Property Disputes
Earnest Money Dispute in California: Who Keeps the Deposit if a Sale Fails
Contingencies, the 3% liquidated damages cap, and the 30-day written demand that puts a stuck escrow deposit in motion.
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Property Disputes
Ex Took My Dog in California: How Pet Ownership Disputes Work
How California treats pets as property, which records prove ownership, and how to ask in writing for your dog back.
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Neighbor Disputes
Good Neighbor Fence Act in California: Splitting Costs and Giving Notice
Equal cost sharing under Civil Code 841, what the 30-day notice must say, how a neighbor can rebut it, and the 10-foot spite fence rule.
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Property Disputes
HOA Dispute in California: Records, Fines, Meet and Confer, Mediation
Records deadlines, fine and hearing rules, late-charge limits, and the meet-and-confer and mediation steps before an HOA lawsuit.
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Property Disputes
Neighbor Encroaching on Your Property in California? Surveys and Next Steps
How surveys, adverse possession, prescriptive easements and quiet title fit together when a neighbor builds on or uses your land.
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Neighbor Disputes
Neighbor Harassment, What Can I Do? California Options From Letter to Court
From a calm letter to mediation, HOA enforcement and a restraining order: the California options for a harassing neighbor.
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Neighbor Disputes
Neighbor Tree Dispute in California: Who Owns It, Trims It and Pays
Trunk-location ownership, limits on trimming, double and triple damages for cut trees, and how to raise a tree problem in writing.
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Neighbor Disputes
Neighbor Water Runoff Damage in California: Liability, Insurance, Letters
The reasonableness rule for surface water, how leaks and nuisance claims differ, where insurance fits, and what to ask for in writing.
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Property Disputes
Roommate Owes Me Money or Kept My Things: A California Guide
Recovering rent shares, utilities, deposit splits and belongings from a former roommate, step by step.
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Property Disputes
Who Keeps the Engagement Ring in California After the Wedding Is Off?
California's 1939 rule on engagement gifts, why it matters who ended things, and how to ask for the ring or its value in writing.
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Property Disputes
Your Ex Won't Return Your Stuff in California: How to Get It Back
Gifts versus loans, the conversion rules, a safe pickup plan, and the court options if your ex keeps your belongings after a breakup.
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Get practical letter checklists, document prompts, and reminders from Talk to My Lawyer before you start a demand letter, cease and desist letter, or dispute letter written and sent by an attorney.