Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: In debt brother

If a settlement cannot be negotiated, you will have to file a Partition action along with an accountingg. Please call me if you have any other questions.

Re: In debt brother

Is thre a written agreement between you? For example, did he sign a promissory note for the loan, or is there a contract of any kind covering the co-ownership of the house? Did you buy it to occupy, or for a rental (income property), or to fix up and resell for a profit?

One possibility is that there is a partnership here, consisting of you, your brother, and possibly the other two people who are splitting the bills (but maybe they are just tenants). If so, partnership law would apply to the division of net sale proceeds, and a court would award you reimbursement for your excess contributions.

It is also possible that since you lent your brother his share of the down-payment money, that you could assert a purchase-money resulting trust in his share of legal ownership, i.e. that what appears to be "his" share is really yours because you provided the money. The applicability of resulting trust theory to your facts is someewhat doubtful, and a lawyer who understands that law would have to take a close look at the facts in relation to appellate decisions on resulting trusts involving loans of the down payment by the person claiming title to the person actually on title. I know of such cases but cannot recall the specific fatcs or how the courts ruled.

So, in short, you need to provide considerably more detail for a proper analysis, but there is at least some chance that you could come out of this very well.