Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: What to do with half ownership of a house

You could:

1. Petition a California court for what is called "partition," in essence the court orders the house to be auctioned and you get half of what is left over after the mortgage and court costs are dealt with.

2. Threaten to do #1 unless he buys you out for whatever money you demand.

Re: What to do with half ownership of a house

Thank you for reposting this with the state information. There is a problem with LawGuru which tells us two states if you live in one, but need legal advice for another, and its impossible for us to tell which is which.

On to your question. Attorney Stone is correct - that is one option. Your problem with doing anything other than a partition is that unless he refinances the house or it is sold and the current loan paid off, you are still going to be on the hook for the mortgage. That's an untenable situation. As I recall from your first post, you were asking about deeding your interest to him - that is a really bad idea unless you can get yourself off the loan also. Again, the only way that will happen is if the property is sold, and the loan paid off; the property is refinanced by your co-tenant only - thus paying off the loan; or it is lost in foreclosure. As co-tenants, you each have a right to use of the entire property - in theory you could force him to accept a renter, but that's going to be tough to manage from GA, and he retains the right to occupy the property as well. Best bet is either threaten to partition the property, and get him to buy you out (including a refinance of the existing loan), or actually partition the property.

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