Esteves v. Esteves
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division
775 A.2d 163 (2001)
Manuel, Flora, and their son Joao (defendant) purchased a home together as cotenants, but after living there together briefly, Joao moved out while his parents (plaintiffs) continued occupying the home exclusively for eighteen years until it was sold; the trial court required Joao to reimburse his parents for half the $61,892 in operating and maintenance expenses they'd paid (offset by a $2,000 credit for Joao's excess labor on repairs), but ruled Joao had no right to any credit for the rental value of his parents' eighteen years of sole occupancy.
Whether, where a cotenant has sole possession of the property and demands contribution for operating and maintenance expenses from the non-possessing cotenant, the tenant in possession must allow a corresponding credit for the value of his sole occupancy.