From Our Perspective: Massive Victory in Partition Action Case

Robinson & Henry’s knowledgeable attorneys give their professional insight in “From Our Perspective” where we take a closer look at successful outcomes achieved by our attorneys. We’ll also share our legal expertise on other cases and legal issues in Colorado.

In this episode, Civil Litigation Partner Joe Lico discusses a case involving a nearly half-million-dollar settlement for a client. The case revolved around a property dispute between two people who co-owned a home.  When their relationship ended, they couldn’t agree on dividing the property value.

Joe’s expertise in property rights and partition actions provided a resolution for his client. A partition action is used when co-owners of a property cannot agree on its division. In this case, the court considered various factors, including contributions to the down payment, mortgage payments, utility bills and home improvements.

Joe successfully secured more than a 50% ownership share for his client. He advises anyone in similar situations to seek the help of an attorney to handle the complexities of partition actions. If you’re dealing with a property dispute, legal support can make a big difference in getting a favorable outcome. 

Past results afford no guarantee of future results; each matter is different and must be judged on its own merits. Facts are those of an actual Robinson & Henry litigation case. 

Question: Joe, thank you for joining me today. Tell me more about our client in this case and why they needed your help. 

Joe: This was a case where we had a client who was involved in a relationship with the opposing party. As, unfortunately, things happened, a lot of times, the relationship went south. They were not married. However, both parties were on the deed of the property as well as on the mortgage. 

The issue came upon the splitting up of the parties. Who gets what amount of the house or the property in this case, since they weren’t married. Our client came to us with a demonstration of how much she had paid into different things and wanted our assistance with how am I going to get there, or how is she going to get her best amount, or her fair share of the property value of what has been put into the house?

Question: What is a partition action and why was it necessary in this case? 

Joe: Partition actions are when there are two or more parties that have an ownership interest in a property, and the property can have a house on it, or just be land. But essentially you’re going to the court and saying we cannot own this property or this home together in joint units.

You’re asking the court to step in and either identify a percentage that each party owns, identify an amount, and then allow the parties to either buy each other out or sell the home to give each party their rightful share of what they have put into the house. 

Question: What are the key steps for initiating a partition action and the key elements involved in that?

Joe: If you’re looking at moving forward with a partition action, you want to right away, get your documents in order. There are seven factors that a court will look at in deciding how much of the partition action dictates your percentage. You want to be able to identify who’s been paying the down payment, who’s been paying the mortgage payment, who’s paying the taxes, the utility bills, the HOA, those kinds of things.

The first thing you want to do is get that together, because an attorney is what you’re going to want to have, is to go forth in court and do what’s called a partition plan, where you’re again asking the court, please identify what each party owns, and then issue an order to either sell or buy the other party out.

Question: What are the rights and the obligations as a property co-owner in a partition action? 

Joe: Obligations are whatever each party decides. I mean, if you want to be the one who’s in charge, mortgage and charge of bills, that’s entirely between the two of you, but your rights are going to be you start out as a 50% owner of the property.

The court will then make adjustments based upon who has been paying what, based on the seven factors that I kind of identified earlier. The court will look at, who paid the down payment, who paid the HOA payments, who’s been paying taxes? Were there any improvements done? For example, did you finish the basement and if so, who paid for that? Was it equally or was it one person? 

There are those factors, which is why it’s important to get an attorney involved, because attorneys should know those factors that can definitely put them and put your numbers to your favor. 

Question: Can a partition action be resolved once the process is started?

Joe: Of course. Just because you file a lawsuit, it’s like any other lawsuit. If the parties can reach an amicable agreement, that’s fine. If the parties can reach a settlement as to who owns what or who’s going to move out or what a buyout would be, that’s all fine too. So just because, like every other lawsuit, a lawsuit was filed doesn’t mean you have to wait a year to a year and a half for a court order. It’s always a possibility, but it can absolutely be resolved prior to going all the way through trial. 

Question: Ultimately, what was the outcome of the partition action in this case? 

Joe: In this case, we were able to demonstrate that our client had put forth the down payment, had been paying more than her share of the mortgage payments, had paid other utility bills and made improvements to the home.

We were able to take those numbers, apply them to the factors, and get her a resolution that got her actually more than what her standard 50% ownership would be based upon factors changing. 

Question: If someone is watching and they are in a property dispute, what advice do you have? 

Joe: Absolutely, go get an attorney, that’s the first thing like I mentioned is there are factors involved. Things don’t always equate to an easy 50-50 split. You may be entitled to more, you may be entitled to less, but you should certainly get an attorney involved to review your numbers. 

Review the history and see one of two things. Either is a lawsuit even necessary, or to try to help you to resolve to make sure you get your fair share of what you’ve put into the house.