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document entitled “Promissory Note” dated “December 1999” (note)
purporting to be between petitioner and Mrs. Tiernan, which, in
its entirety, provides:
$30,000.00 face value, payable at $2,000.00 per month,
secured by the Condo at 5912 #2 Walerga, Sacramento,
California. This agreement for the purchase of
mentioned Condo is between Elsie Gray Tiernan (Seller)
and Daniel M. Gray (Buyer) as his sole and separate
property.
Despite the “sale”, petitioner testified that he did not
hold legal title to the condo in 2000, claiming that the title
was not conveyed and filed under his name until 2001. The
“note”, however, was not signed by Mrs. Tiernan, suggesting that
petitioner and Mrs. Tiernan never reached an agreement on the
sale. It is not disputed that legal title remained under Mrs.
Tiernan’s name during 2000. Petitioner must therefore show that
he had an equitable interest in the condo to prevail.
In addition to the “note”, petitioner presented and the
Court admitted the following documents as evidence: (1) Bank
statements dated 2000 and 2001 from a joint checking account that
petitioner maintained in Nevada with his stepfather, William
Tiernan (Mr. Tiernan); (2) a check register for 2000 with entries
that corresponded to the check numbers on some of the bank
statements; (3) letters dated as in 2002 between petitioner and
the Tiernans relating to petitioner’s rental and eviction from
the condo; (4) a signed purchase agreement dated December 14,
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