The actual percentage of co-owned properties in Florida is unknown, but it's in the millions, if not the billions of dollars.
People buy property together as investments, as part of a committed relationship for estate purposes, or because it was passed to them through inheritance. Whatever the reason, the property ends up with multiple owners, and a frequent problem arises: one or more owners want to sell, and one or more owners do not wish to sell. This stalemate often leads to an unknown well of opportunity for agents.
Let's look at an elementary but common scenario of a co-owned property being a missed opportunity for the right realtor: Susan and Tom bought their dream home together seven years ago for $450,000. They both put money down to buy it, sharing the closing costs, but only Susan qualified for the $400,000 mortgage, so only her social security number was used for the debt. The house is now worth $600,000, and the mortgage is $350,000. The house has equity, which makes it a traditional sale for the co-owners. Unfortunately, seven years later, Susan moved out. Susan can't pay the entire mortgage and apartment rent, but Tom stopped contributing to the mortgage once Susan left, and he is now living in the house for free. Susan asked Tom to sell it, but he refused. A year has passed since Susan left, and the mortgage payments are past due so that foreclosure may be filed. Susan asked a realtor to list the property for sale, but the realtor told Susan there was nothing he could do to help her as Tom needed to sign the listing agreement and cooperate with the sale to sell the co-owned property.
What can Susan do to resolve the situation before she has a foreclosure on her credit and loses all the equity in the home? How did the realtor miss an opportunity to sell this property? A Partition Suit answers both Susan's and the realtor's problems.
Florida Statute 64 entitles a co-owner of real property to ask the court to sell a property when the other owner disagrees. During this process, the realtor becomes the court-appointed listing agent to handle the property sale on the sellers' behalf, and the co-owner no longer needs to cooperate with the sale. Further, if the co-owner attempts to prevent the sale, the realtor, since court-appointed, asks the court to remove the co-owner so the court-ordered partition sale can occur. Typically, this process is not much longer than a traditional sale as per Florida Statute 64; the co-owner who does not want to sell has no legal way to prevent the court from ordering the property sold (*unless an heir), and if the co-owner wants to keep the property, he must negotiate with his co-owner a "buy-out" of her interest.
So, in our case study, Susan hired a partition attorney, and she filed for partition. The judge ordered the property sold, and the court-ordered sale occurred with the help of our knowledgeable agent. The next step is once the property is sold, with all closing costs paid, including commissions, the net sales proceeds are held until the court orders the percentage of owners' shares be disbursed based on two factors: the percentage of ownership by the owners and the percentage of contribution by the co-owners to the property's maintenance. However, the realtor's participation in the transaction is completed at the closing table when he receives his commission wire.
So, back to our case study, the Partition Lawsuit saved Susan from foreclosure, ended the co-ownership problem, and netted her equity from a home that, without partition, was headed to a sheriff's sale.
However, our realtor was the real winner. He was paid commission on a property that, but for the partition suit, he would not have received, has a happy customer to refer him new business in the future, and he now has a new category of customers that he can better advise about accessing their real property equity over the wishes of a co-owner.
Imagine if the property was a residential or commercial building worth several million dollars. The agent's commission would be a just reward for his knowledge of partition suits that created a windfall for him and his customer
