Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Joint Home Buying

An action for partition can be used in obtaining your proper equity in the property or forcing a buy-out. Please call us if you have any questions.

Re: Joint Home Buying

Need more info to adequately answer this question. If you and your boyfriend (BF) are separated and he wants a piece of the house, then the question becomes what sum of money, if any, is he entitled to from you?

Are you and BF on the loan together? If so, he likely wants to be removed from the loan (which is no easy task). The bank is unlikely to remove him without an adequate replacement. And even then, most banks won't mess with it; it's easier for the bank to wait while you try to refi and remove the BF as part of the refi.

Is the BF on title with you? By himself? Not at all? These answers greatly affect how you proceed.

Did you both contribute equal shares to the purchase? Have you contributed equally to the mortgage, interest, taxes, maintenance, insurance, improvements?

Many questions have to be answered before any attorney can legitimately give you advice on how to proceed.

Re: Joint Home Buying

I need to know how you took title and who is named on the deed of trust. The matter requires an office consultation. If you get serious about hiring an attorney give me a call.

Best of luck

Re: Joint Home Buying

This is not an extremely complicated subject area as legal problems go in general, but it isn't something that can be totally explained in a single breath, either.

First, his wanting to leave is a major event in your personal affairs, but has little or no effect on your rights, or his, to live in the home.

The basic principle is that anyone who has a co-ownership interest in real property as a tenant in common or as a joint tenant has the right to possess the entire property, along with all other co-owners. This means that, assuming you are a co-owner either by virtue of being "on title" or by having a beneficial interest in title by having contributed to the purchase money, you and your ex-boyfriend are legal roommates, of sorts, whether he chooses to exercise his right of co-possession or not.

That is to say, that someone with a 50% interest in a house - or even a 1% interest - has a legal right to live there without paying rent to the other co-owner.

Living there alone and maintaining it yourself will of course pose practical problems such as keeping the loan, property taxes, insurance, repairs, etc. paid.

Further, an unhappy co-owner usually has the right to sue for partition of the ownership, usually meaning a forced sale and division of the net proceeds between the former co-owners.

So, basically, his leaving means nothing legally. Co-owners don't have to be co-occupants. However, someone or both someones need to keep the bills paid, or you'll both lose your rights.

Another thing to remember is that liability on a mortgage is a separate concept from ownership and title. It is possible to own property without being a borrower on the loan, and vice-versa. However, the part about personal liability on a real-estate loan is very complex because most loans can only be enforced by foreclosure on the collateral (the home) and not by suit against one or more of the borrowers.

I have a kind of sub-specialty in representing unmarried co-owners of homes (have been through it personally), and I would be pleased to give you more customized opinion and advice if you contact me directly with particulars, such as (1) how much each of you contributed to the purchase price (down payment and closing costs, but not mortgage) and how title is held.