Blog Archives

What is a Partition Action?

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

What is a Partition Action? Sometimes, when two (or more) people own the same piece of real property, they will disagree on what to do with the property. One common example occurs when a parent passes away and leaves a piece of real property to her/his three children. If the children cannot agree on what to do with the real property, one of them may eventually be forced to file a suit for partition of the property. A partition action asks the court, pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 872.210, to divide the real property fairly between the different owners. For a property with a home or other development on it, this usually means selling the property and dividing the proceeds of the…

Schorr Law Gets Partition Fees Awarded for Common Benefit

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

As busy Los Angeles partition attorneys we are constantly litigating partition matters throughout Southern California. Last week, Schorr Law’s lead real estate attorney Zachary D. Schorr was in court following having already obtained an interlocutory judgment on 2 partition matters, which Schorr Law won for its client via a summary judgment motion. As one part of the court’s ruling on Schorr Law’s fee motion, Schorr Law was able to convince the Los Angeles County Superior Court to allocate 100% of the fees deemed reasonable to the two defendants in the action – the other 2/3rds owners of the properties. The court found that the fees incurred by Schorr Law’s 1/3rd owner client were for the common benefit of all the parties and thus…

Tagged with: Attorneys' Fees for Common Benefit, Los Angeles Partition Attorney, Partition, Partition Attorneys' fees, Schorr Law, Zachary Schorr
Posted in Litigation, Partition, Quiet Title

Demanding an Accounting in a Partition Claim

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

In California, especially in Southern California, our Los Angeles partition attorneys litigate a large number of partition actions on behalf of parties seeking to partition real property or defending a party from their cotenant’s efforts to partition real property. One necessary part of nearly all partition actions is an accounting. An accounting is usually intertwined with a partition action because the respective rights of the parties (financial rights) typically need to be adjusted and settled at (or after) the sale of the property. An accounting involves a determines of both the charges and the credits attributable to each co-owner. Credits typically include things like property taxes, mortgage payments, maintenance expenses, insurance, and improvements that enhance the value of the property. In general, the rule on…

Tagged with: Accounting, Los Angeles Partition Attorney, Partition, reimbursements, Schorr Law
Posted in Partition

Partitioning Property Without A Referee

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

At Schorr Law, our Los Angeles based partition attorneys have a great deal of experience litigating real estate partition matters. We commonly deal with these types of ownership disputes and strive to do them with the least transaction costs. For example, one thing we try to get the parties to agree upon either pre-interlocutory judgment or post-interlocutory judgment (the interlocutory judgment is the intermediate judgment ordering the property be sold) is to get the parties to agree to a partition by private sale through the use of a private broker. In other words, we try to get all parties involved to agree to sell the property privately as opposed to going through the court system with expensive referees, a courthouse steps sale and increased…

Tagged with: Partition, partition attorney los angeles, partition lawyer los angeles, partition referee, Referee
Posted in Ownership, Partition, Purchase and Sale

Attorney Zachary Schorr Successfully Obtains Partition of 2 Properties

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

We are pleased to announce that Schorr Law won another partition lawsuit this week. On Tuesday, Schorr Law’s lead real estate attorney Zachary D. Schorr, successfully argued a motion for summary judgment resulting in another win for a Schorr Law’s client and the partition of two high value properties. In this dispute over shared ownership, Schorr Law was successfully able to obtain summary judgment of two properties worth over $2million. Defendants in this matter had tried to argue that the plaintiff had waived the right to partition using an implied waiver argument. While there is legal authority for an implied waiver of the right to partition in certain limited circumstances, Schorr Law’s team of litigators successfully convinced the judge that there was no implied waiver of…

Tagged with: Partition, partition attorney los angeles, partition lawyer los angeles, Summary Judgment
Posted in Ownership, Partition, Wins

3 Factors to Consider When Deciding to Partition Real Property

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

As active real estate attorneys in California we frequently have the opportunity to litigate partition claims throughout the state. Note, partition claims involve the decision by an owner of real property to force a co-owner to sell the property. These are powerful claims because they are difficult to defeat absent a waiver or a right of first refusal. As part of our representation of both plaintiffs and defendants in partition claims we typically analyze several key issues, including but not limited to, the following: Ownership: Does record title accurately reflect who the true owners of the property are? If not, you may want to consider a quiet title action or cross-complaint so that the court can identify the true owners of the property. If so,…

Tagged with: attorney at law, California Partition, Partition, partition attorney los angeles, Real Estate Attorney Los Angeles
Posted in Ownership, Partition

Steps to Confirm a Partition by Sale of Real Property

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

In our previous blog posts, we discussed the different types of partition available. But what happens after the parties complete the court ordered sale in a partition by sale cause of action? In today’s blog post, we discuss the steps to confirm a partition by sale of the property. In a judicial partition action, after the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to partition, it must make an interlocutory judgment that determines the interests of the parties in the property and orders the partition of the property and the manner of partition. (Code Civ. Proc. § 872.720(a).) Once the court makes the interlocutory judgment, the parties can proceed with the sale. However, because there are additional steps following the sale of the subject property,…

Tagged with: Confirming a Partition Sale, Judicial Partition, Partition
Posted in Partition

Schorr Law Obtains Successful Result In Partition Case

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

In the partition of a commercial property worth nearly $1 million, attorney Zachary Schorr recently obtained an excellent outcome for one of the owners of the property. One of Schorr Law’s clients, after being improperly denied access to the property and his fair share of its rents, a 50% owner of the property retained Schorr Law to represent his interests. Schorr Law filed a complaint seeking, among other things, partition of the property. The opposing party went to great lengths to frustrate and deny Schorr Law’s client his rightful 50% of the property and its rental income. Schorr Law, despite being met with resistance at every turn – including discovery disputes and two frivolous bankruptcy petitions – ultimately prevailed. After obtaining terminating sanctions against one…

Partition Actions: Determining Proper Reimbursement of Advanced Funds

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

In California, when our partition attorneys deal with accountings that accompany partition claims, it is very important to keep in mind how to distribute funds upon the sale of the partitioned property. Generally, a party who pays a disproportionate share of the property’s expenses is entitled to be reimbursed for the amount the party paid in excess of its ownership interest. Doing the math to determine how the reimbursement shall occur is important because depending on how the parties or the court does the math may vary the amount each party receives. The California Court of Appeals dealt with this exact issue in Southern Adjustment Bureau v. Nelson (1964) 230 Cal.App.2d 539. In Southern Adjustment Bureau the Court of Appeals walked us through the relevant analysis as follows: To illustrate:…

Tagged with: Partition, reimbursements
Posted in Partition

How To Resolve Property Value In Partition Cases

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Zach Schorr — No Comments ↓

With real estate prices steadily rising in the Southern California and Los Angeles markets, we are seeing more and more disputes between certain property owners who wish to sell a parcel of property and their co-owners who do not wish to sell. In that circumstance, the owners who wish to sell often bring an action for partition. Partition is the court-aided process whereby a co-tenant forces the sale of real property when the other co-tenant does not want to sell. However, we often advise our clients to first attempt to reach an informal agreement before pursuing a court ordered judgment. In this blog post, I will detail the general framework we follow in pursuing an informal agreement between co-owners of property. Logically, the sticking point…

Tagged with: Appraisals, Los Angeles Partition Attorney, Partition
Posted in Partition

Blog Archives

What is a Partition Action?

Schorr Law Gets Partition Fees Awarded for Common Benefit

Demanding an Accounting in a Partition Claim

Partitioning Property Without A Referee

Attorney Zachary Schorr Successfully Obtains Partition of 2 Properties

3 Factors to Consider When Deciding to Partition Real Property

Steps to Confirm a Partition by Sale of Real Property

Schorr Law Obtains Successful Result In Partition Case

Partition Actions: Determining Proper Reimbursement of Advanced Funds

How To Resolve Property Value In Partition Cases

Zachary D. Schorr’s Expert Appearance on the Dr. Phil Show

Zachary D. Schorr’s Expert Appearance on ABC’s Nightline

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