Co-Owner Disputes · California
How Do I Force the Sale of a House I Own With My Ex in California?
Justin Borges, DRE #01940318 · 10 min read
If you and your ex own a California house together and one of you wants out, you have three options: agree to list it on the open market, have one of you buy out the other's share, or file a partition action under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 872.210 to force a sale through the court. A voluntary listing typically avoids months of litigation costs, because a referee's fees and both sides' attorney's fees come out of the proceeds first in a court-ordered sale.
Sources: Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 872.210; Cal. Civil Code § 686; Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.714; National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
What You Will Learn
- What Are Your Three Options If Your Ex Won't Sell?
- Does It Matter If You're Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants?
- What Happens to the Mortgage When You Force a Sale?
- How Do You Actually Split the Sale Proceeds?
- Why a Court-Ordered Sale Usually Nets You Less
- Is This the Same as a Divorce Sale?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Your Three Options If Your Ex Won't Sell Your California House?
When two unmarried people, ex-boyfriend and girlfriend, former fiancés, or just co-investors who bought a home together, can no longer agree on what to do with a California property, California law gives every co-owner an absolute right to force a resolution. "A partition action may be commenced and maintained by any... owner" of jointly held real property (CCP Section 872.210), and Section 872.710 confirms that partition is a right for co-owners of a concurrent interest, unless barred by a valid waiver. You do not need your ex's permission to start the process, and you do not need to have been married to use it.
In practice, there are three real paths forward once one person wants out of a California home owned with an ex, and each produces a very different outcome for both of you.
| Path | What Happens | Typical Timeline | Who Controls the Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agree to List | Both owners voluntarily list the California home on the open market through a real estate agent, market it broadly, and split the net proceeds by ownership share. | 30-60 days to close once listed | Both owners, together |
| Buyout | One owner has the home independently appraised, then pays the other owner their equity share, usually through a cash-out refinance, and takes sole title. | 30-45 days (financing-dependent) | The owner who is buying in |
| Partition Action | Either owner files a civil lawsuit asking a California court to order the property sold and the proceeds divided by ownership interest, with a court-appointed referee overseeing the sale. | Often 12-24 months | The court and its referee |
Every co-owner in California has the legal right to force this to a resolution. The only real question is whether you resolve it together, on your terms, or let a judge and a referee decide it for you.
Justin Borges, CA DRE #01940318Ready to See What's Available in Los Angeles?
If a voluntary listing is even a possibility for you and your ex, it starts with knowing what else is on the market right now.
Search Homes in Los Angeles →Does It Matter If You're Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants?
How you and your ex hold title to a Los Angeles County home determines how the proceeds get divided when it sells, and most unmarried co-buyers do not realize which form they actually chose. An interest created in favor of two or more people is presumed to be a tenancy in common unless the deed expressly declares a joint tenancy (CA Civil Code Section 686). That default matters: tenants in common can own unequal shares (say, 60/40 based on who put down a larger down payment), while joint tenants are presumed to hold equal shares and carry a right of survivorship that generally does not apply to unmarried co-buyers unless the deed says so.
Check your grant deed before assuming anything about a 50/50 split. California law requires a joint tenancy to be expressly declared in the instrument that creates it (CA Civil Code Section 683); if your deed says "as joint tenants," proceeds are typically divided equally regardless of who paid more. If it says "as tenants in common" or lists specific percentages, the split follows those percentages, not an even divide.
Worked Example: Unequal Tenants-in-Common Split
Looking at Pasadena?
Whatever your share of the proceeds ends up being, it helps to know what it buys in today's Pasadena market.
Search Homes in Pasadena →What Happens to the Mortgage When You Force a Sale?
Title and the mortgage are two separate legal questions, and unmarried co-owners in Los Angeles County often confuse them. Whoever signed the promissory note owes the lender, regardless of what the grant deed says about ownership percentage. If you are on title but not on the loan, you still own your share of the equity, but the lender cannot come after you for missed payments. If you are on the loan but move out, you can still be held responsible for the mortgage until it is paid off or refinanced, even if your ex stays in the home.
When a California home sells, whether through a voluntary listing, a buyout refinance, or a court-ordered partition sale, the mortgage payoff happens in escrow before either owner sees a dollar of proceeds. The title company or the court-appointed referee pays off the loan balance directly from the sale price, then divides what is left according to the ownership percentages discussed above. If one of you wants to keep the home instead of selling, that person generally needs to qualify for a new loan in their name alone, since simply staying on an existing joint mortgage does not remove the other ex-partner's liability.
Considering Glendale?
If a buyout or a fresh start means one of you needs a new place, Glendale's current inventory is worth a look.
Search Homes in Glendale →How Do You Actually Split the Sale Proceeds?
Regardless of which of the three paths you take, the proceeds math on a Los Angeles County home works the same way at a high level: start with the sale price, subtract the mortgage payoff, subtract closing costs and any court-related fees, then divide what remains according to each owner's percentage of title.
Worked Example: Voluntary Listing, Equal Ownership
Compare that to a court-ordered sale on the same home. The costs of a partition action, including the referee's fee and attorney's fees the court finds reasonably necessary to the action, are charged against the parties in proportion to their ownership interests (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 874.010-874.040) and are typically paid out of the sale proceeds before either owner is paid. Those costs do not exist on the voluntary path.
Have Your Eye on Long Beach?
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Search Homes in Long Beach →Why a Court-Ordered Sale Usually Nets You Less
California updated its partition process in 2022 through the Partition of Real Property Act (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 874.311-874.323), which now applies to any tenancy-in-common property in Los Angeles County and statewide without a binding written partition agreement, not just property inherited from a relative, for actions filed on or after January 1, 2023. Practically, that means your case with your ex almost certainly falls under it.
The court must first have the property appraised by a disinterested, licensed real estate appraiser (CCP Section 874.316), and the co-owner who did not file gets roughly 45 days to buy out the filing owner's share at that appraised value (CCP Section 874.317) before the court moves to an open-market sale through a licensed broker, the statute's preferred method over the old courthouse-steps auction (CCP Section 874.320). The 2023 reform is a real improvement over the prior process, and the sale price itself is far better protected as a result.
Even so, a court-ordered sale still costs you money a voluntary listing does not. The referee's fee, the appraisal cost, and both sides' attorney's fees the court finds reasonably necessary to the action are charged against the parties and typically paid out of the sale proceeds before you and your ex see a check (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 874.010-874.040). None of those costs exist when you simply agree to list.
Academic research on forced property sales found that properties sold under court-ordered or forced conditions net roughly 27% less on average than comparable properties sold voluntarily on the open market (Campbell, Giglio & Pathak, "Forced Sales and House Prices," American Economic Review, 2011), a gap that stacks directly on top of the referee and attorney's fees above. You also give up control: the court, not you, approves the appraiser, the listing terms, and the sale timeline, and the 12-24 month general civil timeline (Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.714) means your equity stays tied up far longer than the 30-60 days a cooperative listing typically takes.
A voluntary listing avoids all of that. When you and your ex agree, even reluctantly, to list the home on the open market instead of litigating it, there is no referee's fee, no court-appraisal cost, and no litigation attorney fees splitting your equity, and you both keep control over the agent, the price, and the timeline. This is the argument a partition attorney is not positioned to make, because a law firm's incentive is the litigation itself. A real estate agent's job, listing the property, pricing it correctly, and getting it sold at fair market value on your own timeline, is the argument that gets both of you the most money, fastest, with the least outside control over your outcome.
I'm not a substitute for a partition attorney if you're already in litigation. But if you and your ex can still agree to list the house, even if neither of you is thrilled about it, that decision alone usually saves both of you money and months compared to letting the court and a referee run the process for you.
Justin Borges, CA DRE #01940318Note: This section explains general California partition procedure and is not legal advice. If your case has already reached litigation, or if you and your ex cannot agree on next steps, consult a California partition attorney before making a final decision.
Thinking About Burbank?
A quiet look at what's on the market can make the "should we just list it" conversation a lot easier.
Search Homes in Burbank →Curious About Highland Park?
If either of you is weighing whether to buy something smaller after the sale, Northeast LA is worth browsing.
Search Homes in Highland Park →Is This the Same as a Divorce Sale?
No. If you and your ex were married, California's community property rules and the family court system, not a civil partition action, would generally govern how a shared home gets divided, and the process runs through divorce proceedings rather than California Code of Civil Procedure Section 872.210. Unmarried co-owners get none of the automatic community property protections a spouse would have; your split depends entirely on what the grant deed says, as covered above, not on marital property law. If you are navigating a home sale as part of an actual California divorce, that is a distinct process with its own considerations, and LA Metro Home Finder covers it separately in its guide to choosing a realtor for a divorce home sale in Los Angeles.
Exploring the San Gabriel Valley?
Monrovia and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley communities are worth a look if a fresh start is next for either of you.
Search Homes in Monrovia →Frequently Asked Questions
How do I force the sale of a house I own with my ex in California?
File a partition action in California superior court under Code of Civil Procedure Section 872.210. Any co-owner, married or not, has the right to bring the action, and the court can order the property sold with proceeds divided by ownership share. Most people find it faster and more profitable to first try agreeing to a voluntary listing or a buyout before filing.
Do I need to have been married to file a partition action?
No. A partition action is a civil property remedy available to any co-owner of California real property, regardless of marital status. Ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, former fiancés, business partners, and co-investors all use the same statute that governs siblings and other co-owners.
What if we're not both on the mortgage, only on the title?
Title and the loan are separate. Whoever signed the promissory note is liable to the lender regardless of the ownership percentage on the deed. Someone on title but not on the loan still owns their equity share, while someone on the loan but not living in the home can still be responsible for payments until the loan is paid off or refinanced.
Can I sell my share of the house without my ex's consent?
Technically, yes; a co-owner can transfer or sell their individual interest to a third party without the other owner's consent. In practice, almost no buyer wants to purchase a fractional interest in a house alongside a stranger co-owner, so this rarely produces a workable outcome. A partition action remains the practical way to force a full resolution.
How long does a partition action take in California?
Under California Rules of Court, Rule 3.714, general civil (unlimited jurisdiction) cases are expected to be resolved with 75% disposed of within 12 months, 85% within 18 months, and 100% within 24 months. A partition action is filed as a general civil case, so many contested cases run well over a year. See our full breakdown in how long it takes to force the sale of a jointly owned property in California.
Do I need a lawyer to force the sale of a house I own with my ex?
You are not legally required to hire one to file, but a partition action is real litigation with real procedural requirements, and a California partition attorney can help you evaluate whether waiver, cost allocation, or unequal contribution claims apply to your situation. LA Metro Home Finder can walk you through the real estate side, listing the home and getting it sold at fair market value, alongside your attorney's guidance on the legal side.
See What Alhambra Homes Are Selling For
Whether you're weighing a buyout number or picturing your next move, current Alhambra listings give you a real number to start from.
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Related Resources
Ready to Talk About Your Options?
Whether you and your ex are close to agreeing on a voluntary listing, working through a buyout number, or already headed toward a partition action, a no-pressure conversation with Justin about the real estate side of it is a good next step for co-owners anywhere in Los Angeles County.
- Licensed CA REALTOR since October 2013, DRE #01940318
- $200M+ closed, 106% average list-to-sale ratio
- Experienced guiding co-owners through partition-adjacent property sales across Los Angeles County
Text or call (213) 262-5092 with questions about a co-owned property sale.
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