Alonso vs. Barrera

# Case Name

1 Alonso vs. Motion to Confirm Offsets Barrera Defendant/cross-complainant Emilia Barrera’s motion to confirm 2025-01497561 offsets is denied.

Barrera moves for an order confirming she is entitled to $708,887 in offsets, and that she may apply this amount as a “credit bid in a purchase of any interest the Plaintiff may hold in the Property.”

The general partition statue is found in CCP sections 872.01 to 874.240. Under the general partition statute: the “interests of the parties, plaintiff as well as defendant, may be put in issue, tried, and determined in the action.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 872.610.) At trial, the court must first determine whether plaintiff has the right to partition. (Code Civ. Proc., § 872.710, subd. (a).) “If the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to partition, it shall make an interlocutory judgment that determines the interests of the parties in the property and orders the partition of the property and, unless it is to be later determined, the manner of partition.” (Code Civ.

Proc., § 872.720, emphasis added.) The court conducts a “final accounting” to determine the “charges and credits upon each co-tenant’s interest.” “Credits include expenditures in excess of the co-tenant's fractional share for necessary repairs, improvements that enhance the value of the property, taxes, payments of principal and interest on mortgages, and other liens, insurance for the common benefit, and protection and preservation of title.” (See Wallace v. Daley (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 1028, 1035–1036; Miller & Starr, Cal.

Real Est. (4th ed.) § 11:15 [“After the trial, the court determines the interests of the various parties and the priority of all liens”].)

By this motion, Barrera attempts to put the cart before the horse. The Court finds it would be premature to “confirm offsets” and declines to rule on the issue of credits and offsets before the issue of partition has been determined. Further, the credits and offsets sought by both sides is not properly determined by law and motion, or by the “supplemental declarations.”