Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Joint Ownership of Property

I own a 2 family property with my sister. I own 2/3 of the property - she owns 1/3. We are on the mortgage together. My sister has stopped paying her share of the mortgage. We tried to come to an agreement on a price for one of us to buy the other out - her estimate came in 100K lower than the one I got - her estimate was from a private Appraisal company - Mine was from a bank.

My question is do I have any legal rights because I own a larger percentage of the property to force the sale of the property ? Do I have any legal rights to evict her because she is not paying her share of the mortgage ?

Thank you.


Asked on 10/12/03, 12:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Baker Law Office of David Baker

Re: Joint Ownership of Property

There is a legal proceeding called a "Petition to Partition", which basically asks a judge to decide how much one of the owners must pay the other in order to acquire full ownership. In Massachusetts it can be done in Superior Court or Land Court. This can be done without regard to who owns more; your sister could do it, also. I doubt that you have any legal right to evict her unless she has some kind of lease IN ADDITION to her ownership interest. Best wishes.

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Answered on 10/14/03, 11:22 am


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