Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: One partner wants to sell to recoop investment/ the other does not

You can force her to sell by filing a partition lawsuit. As to what percentage you will receive from the sale, it depends. If you have a written agreement, that will control. If you made promises that the half interest was a gift, a court might enforce that promise. If there is no clear understanding, the court may simply measure the respective contributions and apportion any profit in relation to the contributions (if she made any). See an attorney for further assistance.

Re: One partner wants to sell to recoop investment/ the other does not

Certainly, it is called a partition action. Call me directly at (619) 222-3504.

Re: One partner wants to sell to recoop investment/ the other does not

If efforts fail at resolving your problem without litigation, a partition action should be filed. Please contact our office and we can explain the procedure. 714 363 0220

Re: One partner wants to sell to recoop investment/ the other does not

The legal outcome here, and your respective rights, will depend upon whether there was any kind of agreement or understanding between you, particularly but not necessarily anything in writing that points to your intent; and/or whether there is evidence, including circumstances, indicating intent to make a gift.

If there is a contract in writing, it will pretty much prevail over anything else I say. If there is an unwritten (oral) agreement or even a set of circumstances pointing to the parties' intent, it MAY be controlling, at least as to some aspects of yoyr rights.

If there is no agreement to the contrary, and no intent to make a gift of a half interest, your payment of 100% of the down payment will probably entitle you to claim 100% ownership of the property, subject only (perhaps) to a duty to reimburse the other party for contributions to expenses to the extent they exceed rental value, if at all. If as you say, she made no contributions, this is moot.

The principle here is called "purchase money resulting trust." In essence, if one person puts up all the purchase money, but someone else ends up with some or all of the record title, in the absence of a contract or understanding (such as intent to make a gift), the law presumes that the latter holds the title as an involuntary trustee for the former.

The net effect is you are entitled to the equity. The way to get her to agree to settle up with you on terms most favorable to you is to find an attorney who understands and works with purchase-money resulting trusts and partition lawsuits. (A partition lawsuit asks a court to oblige the sale of co-owned property and then to divide the net proceeds fairly). If, of course, you successfully get a purchase-money resulting trust to be found by a court, you wouldn't have a co-owner and wouldn't need to sue for partition. You could just sell by yourself, as you would have been declared the sole owner.

The co-borrower business with the mortgage is relatively unimportant; the lender would have to be paid off when you sell, and that would handle that issue.