Can a Co-Owner Force me To Sell a Property the I Want to Keep?

Here is a hypothetical scenario: Your brothers have decided they want to sell the coastal house in Cambria, California.  All three of you owned the cottage for 28 years.  Your parents bought the property for $50,000 in 1948 and it is now worth 2.5 million.  You have lived in the house for the last ten years since your siblings moved to Arizona.  You have not missed a single mortgage payment.  They want to sell the property take their proceeds and move on.  You do not want to sell because you cannot afford a similar replacement property in Cambria.  Can they force you to move out so as to sell the property? 

The good news is that your brothers will not be able to evict you because you are not a tenant.  You are an owner of the house.  The bad news is they can sue you for Partition.  Essentially, California law holds that co-owners of a property you do not have to be a forced owner of co-owned property.  You can sue and obtain a court order forcing the sale of the property.  The proceeds of the sale will be split according to the percentage of ownership, or in an equitable manner.  California Code of Civil Procedure section 872.140.

I have never seen a Partition cause of action go to trial.  The reason is that the costs associated with a partition judgment are high.  You have to pay attorneys to represent both opposing sides along with other court appointed real estate professionals and the court is going to sell the property regardless.  As such, once the opposing side realizes that the property is going to get sold, it make economical sense to consent to a traditional sale of the property.    

Ken Jorgensen, California Attorney
www.fresnolawgroup.com

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/with/3124213601/