Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Can a co-owner be charged rent? If a piece of property is owned by 3 siblings and 1 sibling lives there, can he be charged rent? What if he is not even the one paying the property taxes? If the answer is yes, would he only be responsible for paying 1/3 of fair market rent or would he be responsible for paying full fair market rent. Again, if the answer is yes, what happens if he refuses to pay rent? What repercussions do the other two co-owners have?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Ownership means the right to use the property; since the property is not divided into parts but rather the other all property is owned in percentages, each owner has the right to use the entire property without paying rent. If one owner fails to pay their share of the mortgage, property taxes, etc., the other owners can sue them. Costs such as utilities that are incurred by the owner living there are that owners responsibility since the other owners get no benefit. It can be argued that utilities used for the benefit of all owners, such as watering the garden, should be split by percentages.
Can a co-owner be charged rent? Of course. All the owners are entitled to their proportionate share of the fair and reasonable income and profit of the property. Anyone who uses the property should be charged fair rent. Work out an agreement among the owners.
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