In Swartzbaugh v. Sampson, the California Court of Appeal held that one co-owner can lease jointly owned property without the other’s consent, but the lease is valid only as to the signer’s share, and the other owner keeps her right to possession and to partition.
In Capuccio v. Caire (1922), the California Supreme Court held that co-owners who moved property into a revived company without a co-owner’s consent could not defeat her partition. The company at most stepped into their shoes as a co-owner.
In Martin v. Walker, the California Supreme Court held that a co-owner who never lived on the property, and whose co-owner held all of it and denied their title, could still sue for partition. The court decides who owns what in the same case.
In California, each co-owner generally has an equal right to occupy the whole property, but living there has consequences. A partition action resolves disputes over possession, expenses, and fairness.
A co-owner’s mental illness can lead to refusals to sell, unpaid expenses, and breakdowns in communication. A California partition action protects the other co-owners and resolves the dispute fairly.
Tenancy in common is the most common and default form of co-ownership in California. Here is how it works and how it differs from joint tenancy.
Both joint tenants and tenants in common share ownership of the same property, but their rights differ sharply, especially when an owner dies.
While the property remains co-owned, each owner has rights to use it. Here is when a co-owner’s conduct crosses the line, and how a partition action ends the conflict.
California Civil Code section 843 addresses concurrent ownership, ouster, and damages. It sets how a co-owner out of possession can establish an ouster.
A 50% owner of California real estate has the right to force a sale through a partition action, occupy the entire property, and collect 50% of the net rental proceeds, among other rights.
Partition defendants who claim their co-owner was only a co-borrower face an uphill battle, because Evidence Code section 662 presumes the person on title is a true owner.
A partition action is a court-ordered division of property. Here are common examples of co-ownership disputes that lead to a partition in California.
Summers v. Superior Court (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 138 is often misread. It requires only that the parties’ ownership interests be decided before an interlocutory judgment of partition.
Ouster happens when one co-owner wrongfully excludes another from property they own together, such as by changing the locks, denying the other owner’s title, or refusing them entry.
Co-owners often ask whether moving out of a property means giving up their ownership. In California, adverse possession between co-owners is very hard to prove.
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Practical guides from attorneys who focus exclusively on California partition actions.
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