Plenty of people acquire real estate with a co-owner. Many adults buy a home with their spouse or romantic partner. Some people might even buy a house with their college roommate because it is cheaper to share a mortgage than it is for each of them to rent an apartment. Some siblings and cousins end up sharing ownership of real property because they inherited it from a parent or grandparent.
Co-ownership technically means there are others to help you cover certain costs and handle maintenance for the property. However, it also means you have to agree with one another on all major decisions about that property. Some people who jointly own real estate in Minnesota will find themselves in need of help from the civil courts. Filing a partition action can be the right move for those who are no longer in agreement with their co-owners about what to do with their property.
What is a partition reaction?
One of the owners of the property can ask the courts for assistance when they find themselves disagreeing with the other property owners about what to do with the property. A Minnesota civil court judge has the potential authority to order the sale of the property. They can also divide vacant land into multiple parcels. They could facilitate one owner refinancing the property to buy out someone else who can no longer afford their portion of property costs or who cannot contribute towards maintenance.
A partition action is a means of separating the ownership interests of multiple parties through whatever means are reasonable and will do the least damage to the interest each individual has in the property.
Having professional help makes a difference
People sometimes attempt to work things out with their co-owners, only to end up deeply frustrated by the process. If discussing the issue leads to a divide between you and your co-owners, especially if they make it clear that there is no desire to compromise on their end, then you may have no choice but to go to court.
When you hire a lawyer to represent you for a partition action, you reduce the likelihood of a mistake derailing your efforts. Additionally, the lawyer representing you can help reduce the emotionality of the process. Especially when your co-owners are long-term friends or family members, they may struggle to respond to your strong feelings about what you want to do with a particular property.
Having a lawyer assisting with challenging real estate matters, like partition actions, can reduce conflict and increase your chances of success.