When Rebecca Carol and James Renfrey decided to file for divorce they both knew changes were going to happen. Renfrey moved out of the couple’s three-bedroom house near Raleigh, North Carolina and their staple double date was no longer on the calendar. Each started building a life without the other.
No Place Like Home
The couple had bought the home together soon after their engagement. Carol has lived there the past three months unabated but now Renfrey has announced he wants to sell the house and that he’s placed it on the market. Carol feels she has a right to stay in the house since she helped purchase the property.
Rebecca and James are fictional characters, but their problem comes from real life. Property ownership is always a point of contention when couples break-up and split assets. In this fictional scenario one of the resources the wife (well, ex-wife) could use is a lis pendens bond.
Protecting Property By Blocking The Sale
A lis pendens bond is a type of surety bond used in North Carolina when one party is attempting to block the sale of property by another party. The lis pendens bond puts up the amount covering the value of the property, along with any court fees, so the action doesn’t cause the person attempting to sell the house any harm.
In the made up scenario from above, Rebecca Carol would be able to use a lis pendens bond to block the sale of property until a court can make a ruling on how the property should be divided. This surety bond could give her time to buy it directly from the ex-husband or for some other arrangement to be made.
Covering Both Sides
Courts in North Carolina require a lis pendens bond to halt the sale of a house or other property in the majority of scenarios. Using a surety bond is one of the fastest ways to prove to the court that the action hindering real estate is not being done in ill faith. It covers the value of the estate so if the sale is hindered, and then found that the plaintiff has no case, the defendant hasn’t lost out financially.
Any individual or party who believes that a sale of property is unlawful or wrong may be able to use a lis pendens bond in their favor. The Jurisco surety bond team can answer any questions about the subject to help clear up any real estate dilemmas.