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Co-ownership of real property sounds like a great idea. That is, until co-owners disagree. Generally, real property is considered "unique." What is meant by that is that real property is not something that can simply split in half when two co-owners disagree and want to liquidate a contested asset. In most partition actions, the remedy sought is the appointment of a partition referee, whose primary function is to sell the jointly-owned property and then distribute the proceeds with court approval.

Many times, a property under the control of a health and safety code receiver is occupied by tenants. The substandard condition of the property may not be the fault of the property tenants. This situation commonly arises when the property owner/landlord is non-responsive and failing to maintain the property in a safe and habitable condition. Health and safety receiverships arise often in the context of rental properties (single-family homes or apartment buildings).

A partition referee carries out a specific role in the context of a legal dispute between multiple individuals regarding real property. One or more parties will file a lawsuit that includes a partition cause of action. One aspect of the relief sought via the partition cause of action will be the appointment of a partition referee by the court. The party may nominate one or more particular partition referees, but ultimately, it is the court's decision as to who the court will appoint as the partition referee. The partition referee almost always has one single objective: sell the subject property at issue in the lawsuit and distribute the proceeds accordingly. A related task may be to manage and preserve the property while preparing for the sale, depending on the type of property.

In January 2014, an Orange County Superior Court Judge concluded one of Mr. Griswold's Health & Safety Code receiverships after Mr. Griswold had successfully rehabilitated the single-family home back into compliance with all applicable building and safety codes. Richardson "Red" Griswold was originally nominated by the Orange County city, and appointed by the Superior Court judge under CA Health & Safety Code section 17980, et seq., in November 2012, to act as the court-appointed receiver over the single family home that had fallen into serious disrepair with multiple and severe health and safety, building, and other municipal code violations.

Time sure does fly. Here at Griswold Law (and in life), things have been quite busy. I was unpleasantly surprised to realize it has been close to a year since the last article. My motivation is renewed and the published articles will follow.