Facts

On April 12, 1979, Johnny MackTaylor and defendants Raymond and Celia Taylor bought property at 845, 847, and 847 ½ West 48th Street in Los Angeles, taking title as joint tenants. The owners consented to managing the property and costs were to split evenly between the three. On Aug. 15, 2005, Johnny Mack Taylor transferred, without consideration, his interest to his son, plaintiff Johnny Michael Taylor, and the prior agreement was to remain in effect. Later, plaintiff requested a sale and partition of the land. Defendants filed a cross-claim for an accounting.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff asserted that the titles showed that he owned a 50 percent interest in the property. He claimed that defendants breached their fiduciary duty to his father because they did not give an account of rents received, did not allocate rental income, and lived at the property without paying fair rental value. Plaintiff alleged that defendants had the opportunity to commit fraud because they knew that his father lacked reading skills and that plaintiff had confidence in his uncle.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants asserted that plaintiff's father resided on the property, but did not make payments for the costs and failed to pay fair rental value. Also, they claimed that plaintiff's father, who only owned a 1/3 interest in the property, was made a purchaser to simplify the loan process for the property.

Result

The court found that plaintiff owned a 1/3 interest and ordered a sale of the property with proceeds going to the parties. The court ordered a lien on plaintiff's proceeds amounting to $12,780 for 1/3 of losses suffered.

Other Information

FILING DATE: June 27, 2007.