Case Study: Licensee Out in Eight Weeks
Getting It Done (Where Others Didn’t)
What Changed in 8 Weeks
- Trust asset protected: Possession of a Walnut Creek family home restored in ~8 weeks
- Decisive action: Correct licensee process used Day 1; eviction suit filed within a week
- Cost & stress contained: Replaced four months of stall with a fast, enforceable settlement
From Problem to Plan
When his brother passed away, the trustee inherited more than grief. He inherited a problem. The trust’s only asset was the family home in Walnut Creek. His brother’s girlfriend was still living there. She had no lease, paid no rent, and had only ever lived in the house with the brother.
In the law’s language, that made her a licensee, not a tenant.
The trustee did everything by the book. He hired a law firm. He waited. He paid the invoices. Four months later, more than $13,000 was gone, and nothing had started. Worse, the notice that the law firm served wasn't even the right one for a licensee.
The clock kept ticking, the house remained in limbo, the girlfriend was still there, and the trust’s beneficiaries were stuck. The trustee came to McLaughlin Sanchez with a simple plea:
“Can you actually move this forward?”
“Michael and his team at McLaughlin Sanchez got my property back when other lawyers had spun their wheels for months with no success.
I knew within three minutes of my first call with Michael that I wanted to hire him for my case. I brought him on after working with another lawyer for several months. Michael knew exactly what we needed to do, served the proper notice the next day, and had the court papers prepared, filed, and served within a week.
He relentlessly pushed the case forward, and we had the occupant out and our family home back in a matter of weeks. Where other lawyers dropped the ball, Michael and his team got the job done.”
The Pivot That Worked
McLaughlin Sanchez began the day we were hired. First, we aligned the facts with the law: a girlfriend without a lease and sharing the house with her boyfriend equals a licensee. This meant a license revocation notice, not a tenant termination notice. We served the revocation notice the next day, and we had the eviction lawsuit on file within the first week. With the right process in place, the case moved quickly.
Pressure created clarity. Within weeks, we had secured a signed settlement agreement with a defined date for the girlfriend to move out. The move out was only eight weeks from when we started work. The trustee’s tone changed from strained to relieved. He called McLaughlin Sanchez’s speed “overwhelming,” not because it was flashy, but because it was effective. Roughly eight weeks from our start, the property was vacant and finally in the trustee’s control.
What had been months of drift turned into a focused, enforceable outcome. The home was now for whatever came next, be it sale, refinance, or family use. The trust’s value was protected, and a lingering family stressor was resolved with dignity and decisiveness.
Why It Worked
This case was never about aggression; it was about precision. By correctly identifying the occupant as a licensee, serving the right notice, and filing fast, McLaughlin Sanchez converted four months of stalled effort into an eight-week resolution. The trustee regained possession, contained costs, and kept the trust’s sole asset on track.
Right label. Right process. Right result.
