Can a majority owner of a house, evict the minority owner?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a majority owner of a house, evict the minority owner?
My brother and I own a house, 25% and 75%, respectively. Being majority owner, do I have final say in all matters in keeping the property maintained since I am also the sole noteholder to the bank? Since he will not maintain sanitary living conditions in parts of the house, nor maintaining anything, can I evict him? What recourse do I have with this mistake I made.
Asked on October 26, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Unless you have a written landlord tenant agreement between yourself and your brother who each own a percentage of the home that you are writing about (you 75% and he 25%) you cannot evict him from the property.
The reason is that the laws of all states in this country hold that all owners in a piece of real property have the right to occupy the parcel in the absence of a written agreement signed by the owners to the contrary.
Your recourse is to try and have your brother voluntarily leave the premises. Another option is to buy out his interest in the property. Absence this, your recourse would be to have a partition action where the property is sold to a third person or you buy out his interest in it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.