Buying, leasing, and protecting property.

Yes, before you sign. A commercial lease allocates repair, insurance, renewal, and default risk in ways that are hard to undo later. Since January 1, 2025, small businesses that qualify as “qualified commercial tenants” (microenterprises, restaurants with fewer than 10 employees, and nonprofits with fewer than 20) also have added protections on operating-cost charges, but only after giving the landlord a written notice and self-attestation (Civ. Code § 1950.9).

Escrow and title companies handle the closing. We advise you on the purchase agreement, the seller's disclosures (for one to four residential units, including the Transfer Disclosure Statement required by Civ. Code § 1102 et seq.), and what the preliminary title report shows, before you remove contingencies.

A negotiated buyout or mediation first. If those fail, a co-owner can ask the court to partition the property (Code Civ. Proc. § 872.210). The court divides the property itself unless the parties agree to a sale or a sale would be more equitable (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 872.810, 872.820). For tenants in common with no written agreement on partition, cases filed since 2023 also require the court to determine the property's value and give the other co-owners a chance to buy out a co-owner who asks for a sale (Code Civ. Proc. § 874.311 et seq.).