Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: partner never showed up

Your question raises several questions directly, and several more indirectly.

First, you didn't say who made the down payment. If you paid the entire down payment, didn't intend to make a gift of a half ownership, and there is no evidence of a contract between you calling for a different result, it is very likely a court would declare that you are the sole owner of the house under the principle of purchase money resulting trust, irrespective of what the deed says.

Next, owning half of the house does not, in itself, entitle your friend to work in a business there. She is, however, entitled to simultaneous co-possession of the entire house along with you, if indeed she is a co-owner.

Next, a partnership does not require a written agreement, or even an oral agreement, between the partners. Under the California Uniform Partnership Act, a partnership is formed when two or more people associate to carry on a business for profit, with the intention of dividing the profits in some way, whether or not they intend to create a partnership. Without more facts, I couldn't predict whether a court would find a partnership here. Nor could I predict what the court would say the terms of the implied partnership agreement were, nor whether the partnership was dissolved by your friend's temporary desertion, etc. etc.

If the house is co-owned, a special kind of lawsuit called a partition suit may be brought by any co-owner against the other(s). If the court grants partition, the house would be sold by court order and the net proceeds (after paying off the mortgage, liens, taxes, selling costs, etc.) would be distributed to the owners in a proportion the court (or its referee) found fair and equitable. If you paid a disproportionate share of the expenses, you would be reimbursed through the split of the sale proceeds. On the other hand, you might be liable for a share of the rents (or revenues that look like rents) received while you operated the drug rehab center there.

It's all a bit complex and interviewing you to get full facts would be prerequisite to forming a really educated opinion on how any legal actions brought by one of you against the other might be decided by a court. I have experience in dealing with all these issues in trial, arbitration and appeals, and would be pleased to review your case further, without charge.