Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Real Estate

1. depends on how you hold title.

2. file a partition action and demand that the property be sold in the action as the other person does not have the funds to pay the partition.

Please feel free to call our office if you are in need of assistance with any of this.

You can learn more about our firm on our website No-Probate.com. We can be contacted through the site or at the phone, email and address provided here on LawGuru.

Regards,

Scott Linden

Re: Real Estate

A strong letter from an attorney explaining legal rights and potential action should be sent. If litigation is necessary, the action is partition. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Re: Real Estate

The standard legal remedy for unhappy co-ownership situations, whether joint tenancies or tenancies in common, is a special kind of lawsuit called a partition action. They are described in detail in the Code of Civil Procedure under the heading "Partition of Real and Personal Property" beginning with section 872.010 and going on for about a dozen pages of fine print.

Basically, every co-owner has the right to court-ordered split of the co-owned property, unless there has been a waiver of the right by contract or some special situation such as a right of first refusal in favor of one of the owners. In older times, real property was physically partitioned by subdivision and award of a smaller piece of the farm to each co-owner, hence the name. In modern times, physical partition is usually impractical or impossible due to indivisible improvements on the land, such as houses occupying most of the lot, or the subdivision and zoning laws establishing minimum parcel sizes. Therefore, most partition cases that go all the way to final judgment are handled by a court order directing the sale of the property and division of the net proceeds (if any) after paying off all liens in a proportion the court, or its investigator, finds to be fair in the circumstances. Excess outlays by an owner for necessary items such as mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and repairs can be adjusted in this process.

Most partition cases are settled out of court before trial and judgment, since the defendant usually agrees to settle (by agreeing to a sale) without the necessity of expensive resistance in court to an almost inevitable outcome.

If you made a purchase-money outlay (for down payment and closing costs) in excess of your share of ownership, be sure to explore whether you are entitled to a greater share of legal title under the doctrine of "purchase money resulting trust." If by chance you made 100% of the down payment (for example) but got a 1/2 piece of recorded title, send me the facts and maybe I can show you how to end up with 100% ownership.

Re: Real Estate

Mr. Whipple always gives comprehensive, and correct, answers.

You need a partition action. Please follow Mr. Whipple's advice, and take him up on his offer to contact him.

Re: Real Estate

File a lawsuit for partition.