Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
joint ownership of real estate property
I own investment property with my ex-boyfriend. Mortgage has not been paid for a while, because we didn�t have tenants and I was laid off from work. The foreclosure procedure has been started and I was not aware of this fact, because he was keeping me away from this information. I don�t have access to any financial papers. He didn�t want me to be involved in any financial aspects of this matter. On my requests to provide mortgage statements, bank statements, lease agreements, he refuses to do so. Now we have tenants on the property, but I do not know how much he is collecting for rent and he refuses to provide lease agreements to me. I also don�t know how he spends this money. I have questions:
1) How can I get out of property? I do not wish to own it with him. He doesn�t want to sell it.
2) And if the property is for sale, but we own to bank more then we can sell it for, what is the solution?
3) How can I get all financial papers from him?
Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: joint ownership of real estate property & obligations.
Joint legal owners are required to share information about the property and its status. If he rents the property, you are not only entitled to know what it is being rented for, but also entitled to review the tenant information, help set the rental rate, and know where the money goes.
You are entitled to all information from the bank, and you can demand such information. IN fact, you can demand all financial and legal information from the tenants and from your ex.
You can also force the sale of the property through an action called partition.
If you have any questions, call or contact me.