Partition lawsuit could be only option when co-owners of a property can’t agree whether to sell

“Persuading your co-owner to simply refinance the property in his name only and draw out enough cash to purchase your half-interest would save time, money and perhaps even a cherished friendship.”

Owning a house or rental property with someone else can be a complex task. It may become even more difficult when one owner wants to sell, but the other doesn’t.

Q. I bought a triplex seven years ago with a friend, and we each got 50 percent interest. The property has probably gone up about 40 percent in value.

Now I would like to sell because I am getting married and could use the profits to buy a new home for me and my wife. But my friend is insistent that we keep the property for at least a few more years. Do you have a solution to this problem?

A. This is a fairly common issue among unrelated co-investors, but the problem sometimes even confronts married couples who are getting a divorce or siblings who have jointly inherited a property from a parent or other relative.

The easiest solution here would be for your co-owner to refinance the place in his name only and take out enough cash to purchase your half-interest at the property’s current value.

Your letter states that the triplex has gone up about 40 percent, so he shouldn’t have any trouble refinancing the loan to buy out your share.

If your friend cannot (or will not) agree to this simple solution, you’ll probably need to contact a local real estate attorney for help.

Depending on how the purchase was originally constructed, you might be able to sell your personal half-interest in the property without seeking your co-investor’s approval first.

Otherwise, the lawyer might suggest that you file a “partition lawsuit” to ask for a judge’s assistance.

There are different types of partition lawsuits, and the type that a plaintiff files largely depends on the goal that the individual wants to achieve.

If the property was a vacant parcel, the judge could simply divide the land, then allow the plaintiff to sell the newly created, individual parcel.

You, though, have a share in a triplex, so physically dividing the property into two equal portions would be impossible.

If you don’t already have the power to sell your 50 percent interest, the partition lawsuit may request that the judge grant it to you.

You could even file a “partition by sale” suit, a fairly extreme action that would ask the judge to order an outright sale of the property with the profits divvied up by you and your co-investor.

Of course, filing a lawsuit is never fun and is usually expensive. I hope you can resolve this problem without resorting to the courts.

Again, persuading your co-owner to simply refinance the property in his name only and draw out enough cash to purchase your half-interest would save time, money and perhaps even a cherished friendship.

REAL ESTATE TRIVIA

Though nearly all key real estate laws in effect today have been codified by the U.S. Supreme Court, its own website

(www.supremecourt.gov) notes that an individual does not have to be a nativeborn citizen, a lawyer or even a lawschool graduate to serve as a justice.

Q. What is considered an “oversized” lot in residential real estate?

A. There is no legal definition of an “oversized” lot. The meaning of this term varies from one area to the next and is based largely on the size of nearby raw or already-developed properties.

If it helps, though, the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent report states that the median size of a lot used to build a new home in 2017 was 8,650 square feet.

As for the smallest size recorded since the agency began tracking such statistics in 1992, the figure works out to a bit under onefifth of an acre.

Q. Overnight recently, some type of critter crawled under the hood of my car, which was parked in my driveway, and chewed through the electrical wires.

The auto mechanic charged me $2,800 to fix the wires and some damage from the small fire that ensued when I tried to start the car in the morning, but my homeinsurance company denied my claim, even though the car was parked on my property. What can I do now?

A. Your home-insurance representative was correct in denying your claim but should have advised you to call the company that provides your automobile insurance.

Auto insurance almost always covers damage done to a vehicle by an animal, regardless of where the car or truck was parked. That’s because no amount of regular maintenance can prevent such mishaps.

Assuming that your auto policy includes comprehensive coverage — the type that reimburses the owner for losses that aren’t caused by a collision — the repair bill triggered by the voracious varmint who trespassed onto your home’s driveway should be covered.

Q. Are drug users considered a “protected class” under the federal Fair Housing Act?

A. No, they are not.

The landmark fair-housing law, enacted in 1968 and amended several times since, prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status and national origin.

Years ago, some lawyers tried to claim that their drug-addled clients were mentally or physically ill and thus were “handicapped.”

Those cases were thankfully tossed out by the courts, and the latest version of the Fair Housing Act specifically states that current users of illegal drugs are not handicapped.

Q. I filed for personal bankruptcy back in May. Since then, I have received a ton of letters and dozens of phone calls from banks that are offering me a new homeequity line, a personal loan or a credit card.

What gives? Isn’t bankruptcy supposed to screw up your credit score instead of improving it?

A. To be sure, your bankruptcy filing didn’t help your overall credit score.

However, now that your case has been completed — or is about to be — creditors know that you can’t file again for several more years.

That’s an ideal situation for lenders and other creditors, because you can’t “walk away” from any more debt that you may take on in the near future.

Be careful when weighing your newfound credit offers.

Some shady real estate investors are offering home-equity lines and even refinancing packages that come with outrageously high rates or fees. Many credit card companies are doing the same thing.

Send questions to David Myers, P.O. Box 4405, Culver City, CA 90231-2960, and we’ll try to respond in a future column.