Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Joint Tenancy Violations
I am the co-owner of a condo in CA as joint tenants. We agreed to list the property for sale. He convinced me to sign the paperwork necessary for him to obtain a $250,000 equity line of credit (= 75% of the total equity) so that he could purchase and remodel his new home. We agreed that when he moved out, I would move back in and assume all financial responsibilities pertaining to the condo until it sold--name removed--He also was going to provide me with access to $50,000 of the line of credit to use at my discretion. In April, 2006, He did move out and into his new home, which he used the line of credit to purchase, but he also changed the locks on the condo so as to deny me access and allegedly leased the unit to a third party and refused to give me the $50,000 that was promised--name removed--
I need to know how I go about regaining full use and access to my property, whether he has actually leased it to a third party or not, in addition to filing the appropriate related lawsuits for being ousted and for repayment of the $250,000 in equity funds--name removed--(He has since maxed out the line of credit with one transaction and no longer making regular payments on the loan.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Joint Tenancy Violations
This person at issue is a real "piece of work" from the facts given. You NEED to retain an attorney ASAP before matters get even worse for you. For a free phone consultation, contact us immediately today to best preserve your rights and legal standing in this very unfortunate matter.
Re: Joint Tenancy Violations
There is a specific provision in California law for addressing an ouster of one co-owner by the other. See Civil Code, section 843. It's a bit too long to summarize on a BBS, but if you obtain a copy on line or at a library you will see that it provides a procedure for giving a particular form of notice to the offending co-owner and then, if that doesn't produce results, further steps that can be taken.
In this case, matters have gone well beyond the usual coowner ouster. You need to face the fact that you made a mistake in giving up 75% of the equity; of course, you're legally entitled to your entire share, plus a bit of reimbursement and damages, but chasing the money and enforcing a judgment are made more difficult.
This will be a tough case to prosecute and win; not because the equities are not with you, but because you have a wily and probably crooked adversary that has taken the cash and placed it out of easy reach in, say, a partition suit.
Please feel free to contact me for an annotated copy of Civil Code 843 by FAX or email and, if you wish, a free consultation. Also see my LawGuru answer a couple days ago to a similar victim of cotenant ouster, question number 897005438.
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