Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

My neighbor has asked for advice. I don't know what to tell him.

In the 1970s, Tom and his wife purchased a duplex here in Los Angeles. At his wife's request, the wife's sister was added to the deed, despite the face that she contributed nothing to the down payment. Each person owned one third of the duplex as tenants-in-common. Tom and his wife paid 2/3 of the mortgage and Tom's sister-in-law paid 1/3 until the house was paid off. Tom and his wife lived in the upper unit and the sister-in-law lived in the lower unit. Ten years ago, the wife died. They had a trust, and Tom inherited his wife's share. Tom remained in the upper unit and the sister-in-law remained in the lower unit. Tom now owned two thirds of the building and continued to pay 2/3 of the maintenance.

Tom is now in his mid- eighties. He has difficulty going up and down the stairs, which is a hardship at his age. He wants to sell the property, take his two-thirds of the sale, and return home to England to live with his daughter before he passes. Is there any way he can force the sale of this building and return home to England? Needless to say, the sister-in-law refuses to consider selling. She does not want to leave Los Angeles and her 1/3 share would not allow her to purchase anything in the city. Also, the sister-in-law does not have spouse or children but does rent out one of her bedrooms.

Is Tom stuck here? Please advise.


Asked on 10/25/16, 4:18 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Tom's problem is neither new nor rare, and the legal system has long had a remedy for it. It is called a partition action. In the old days, in England coincidentally, if joint owners of property could not agree on joint management or one wanted to sell and others didn't, the court would literally divide the property. With modern subdivision and zoning laws, the courts can't do that. So instead the result of a partition action is a forced sale of the property and division of the proceeds. In practice it never gets to the point of a forced sale, since that is done the same as a foreclosure and fetches a much lower price than an agreement to sell. Thus the mere threat of a partition action often brings a recalcitrant co-owner to the table to negotiate either a buy-out or cooperation in selling the property. Tom should consult with a real estate attorney about how to proceed.

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Answered on 10/25/16, 4:24 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Tom probably isn't stuck. There is a legal process called "partition" which allows one unhappy co-owner to force the sale of co-owned property. Although a lawsuit for partition results in a court-ordered and -supervised sale when carried out in court to its ultimate conclusion, I'd say that 80 to 90% of the time the reluctant co-owner sees the handwriting on the wall and agrees to an out-of-court (private) sale or buys out the other owner(s) or agrees to be bought out at market value. If a partition proceeds all the way through the court process, the judge will adjust the portions of the sale proceeds to reflect not only the ownership percentages of the parties, but also excess shares one or another co-owner may have paid for expenses such as property taxes, mortgage payments, and major improvements. I recommend that you and Tom find an experienced real-estate attorney nearby who has handled several partition cases in his/her career, and have an initial (free) conference.

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Answered on 10/25/16, 4:31 pm


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