Is it legal to sell a house in California by lottery?
randy95966 asked:
I see people on ebay selling property by Mystery auction. Basically it is a lottery, people buy an envelope and X number of envelopes are offered and one has the property in it. Is this legal?
I see people on ebay selling property by Mystery auction. Basically it is a lottery, people buy an envelope and X number of envelopes are offered and one has the property in it. Is this legal?
Probably not… for a private seller… probably legal for a church or other non-profit organization.
You’d have to talk to a real estate attourney in Calif to see if its legal there.
Some things are legal for charities to do (Raffles… which is more descriptive of what you are talking about then “lottery”) when its illegal for the average person to do it.
Ebay charges different rates to the seller depending on the item sold. If I sell a hairdryer, ebay will take a certain percentage of my final sale price. However, if the item is either a car or real estate, Ebay will take a different percentage. So I guess if you sell an envelope, and not a house, the seller will get charged a different percentage. I have seen cars sold on ebay by stating “You are buying my rabbit foot KEYCHAIN, which also has a car key for a 1994 Toyota Corolla on it…”
Or, it could be to get around some legality…again, you are selling/buying just a chance, or just an envelope, but who is to say that the house is ever actually sold? How would I know if I bought an “empty” envelope, one with a “golden ticket” of a house is actually out there?
Seems like a recipe for trouble!