- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Property Law
- Date Filed: 07-28-2021
- Case #: A171346
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Menchaca, J., Armstrong, J., Presiding Judge, and Tookey, J., and Aoyagi, J.
- Full Text Opinion
Petitioner and Matt Manley purchased a home together in 2009 as Tenants in Common and continued to live in the home together until 2013 when the couple separated. In 2018, Manley died and, through his personal representative, Respondent here, Manley’s estate was awarded half of the property’s equity by the trial court.
On appeal, Petitioner argued that the trial court erred when it failed to order Respondent’s estate to credit her contributions to post-separation house payments and repairs and challenged the trial court’s appointment of a realtor.
The court held that although the trial court properly recognized Beal as the controlling law in this case, it did not properly apply the rules of cotenancy and did not discuss post-separation contributions in its opinion. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for the trial court to determine the contribution credit owed to Petitioner regarding post-separation payments and repairs. Additionally, the court remanded to determine whether Petitioner’s post-separation use excluded Respondent from using the property and whether Petitioner is liable for one-half the reasonable rental value of the property for her exclusive, post-separation use.
Further, the court considered whether the trial court’s order of a “private sale” of the property meant a “public sale in the open market” or a refinancing of the property to buy-out Respondent’s interest. Because the trial court’s order on the matter was unclear, the court found that it could not assess Petitioner’s claim that the trial court erred when it appointed a realtor.
Reversed and remanded.