Cabin Ownership Information    7/30/19

 

Permit

  • Cabins are under a special use permit, which is a contractual relationship with USFS - not a lease or interest in the land, not an asset.  
  • Cabins are managed under USFS ”Recreational Residences Program”
  • Permit can only be held by an individual, a married couple or the trustee of a single asset trust
  • Transfer fee of $1200 applies when changing permit holder

Property Tax

  • Cabin & contents are personal property, not real property
  • Land under permit is a taxable “Possessory Interest” (PI) per Fresno County
  • Appraisal is done as though cabin/PI combo is real property and is subject to Prop 13 - current assessment is $64,660, tax bill $800/year.  Value if re-assessed may be around $180,000 to $200,000

Title & Re-assessment 

  • Our recorded Quitclaim deed is valid although future changes should use “Bill of Sale” 
  • Title on record is “Tenants in Common” - see below
  • The cabin was not dealt with in Mike’s estate so his heirs hold 1/21 share each - Tricia, Lynnette & Aaron 
  • Cleaning up title may trigger reassessment - we could be forced to do so at any time.  County may assess a fine of 10% of any delayed tax due. Re-assessment “looks back” 4 or 8 years at county’s discretion.
  • Can transfer to a trust where the trustor is the transferor without triggering reassessment - maybe???
  • No way to predict re-assessed  value until the forms are processed

Note: We currently own the cabin as tenants in common.

Default rights and duties of tenants in common:

  • No right of survivorship (such as joint tenants have) so ownership flows to heirs, not other owners
  • Each co-owner has a right of partition;
  • Each co-owner owns an “undivided interest” in the cabin;
  • Each co-owner has the right to transfer his or her interest to any person at any time;
  • A co-owner does not owe rent to the other co-owners for using the cabin;
  • A co-owner who makes improvements has no right to repayment by other owners
  • Each co-owner may rent out the cabin to third parties without the consent of the other owners (as long as the rental is also within the allowable use under the Special Use Permit)