Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arizona
real property partition/ court order
My ex and I have joint property. He
lives at the residence and I do not. I
filed for partition of real property and
the court appointed a real estate
commissioner to sell the home at fair
market value. The agent met with
him, evaluated the home and set a
price. He did not agree to the price,
so the agent told him shed give him
a few weeks to make repairs to
justify his asking price. He then did
not make any repairs to the home.
After three weeks the agent put the
house on mls. He then refused to let
anyone veiw the home. when the
agent called to ask why- he told her
to go to hell, and that he was going
to relist the house at his price with
his own agent. Now, is he in
compempt of court to the extreme?
what are the next steps? Can I put a
lien on the property to get my equity
and the money to pay off the 2nd
mortgage and cc bills that we were
supposed to pay off at the sale of the
home? I just want this to be over.
what are my rights?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: real property partition/ court order
Generally, a person who holds joint property has an ownership interest in the property because the property is titled in his/her name, along with another person. Consequently, a lien is unnecessary and duplicitive because a lien also asserts an interest in the property.
A person who refuses to cooperate with an agent appointed by the court, then is likely in contempt. To resolve contempt, the court needs to be aware of the bad behavior.
As for getting your money, it is legally possible. However, the practical limitation is that it is difficult to sell your partial interest or get a mortgage on just a partial interest in property for same the reason you want to get out--your ex is being difficult. Consequently, when co-owners can not agree to sell their interest, it costs money and time because the court has to get involved.
These are the general rules that apply to the facts as I have gleaned them from your post. You should not rely solely on the general rules, but should research or consult an attorney to make sure you are correctly applying all the laws to all the facts.
Good luck.