Opinion ID: 1818179
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The 18 rental properties

Text: Respondent acquired 18 rental properties before his marriage to appellant. Those properties consisted of a 12-unit apartment building, a triplex, and 16 single-family houses. Each property had an outstanding mortgage balance at the time of the marriage. The trial court did not determine the fair market value of the properties at the time of the marriage. The parties stipulated to the fair market value at the time of the dissolution of one of the properties, and the trial court adopted the valuations submitted by appellant's appraiser of the remaining 17 properties. The trial court determined the properties' mortgage balances both at the time of the marriage and at the time of the dissolution. Respondent used a management company to manage the properties. He instructed the company not to improve the properties and authorized it to make only the minimum amount of repairs necessary to maintain them. This prompted the trial court to conclude that market forces, rather than marital efforts, caused the properties to appreciate. The trial court concluded that the rental income generated by the properties constituted marital income. The parties used the rental income to reduce the mortgage balances during the marriage. The trial court concluded that the amount by which the mortgage balances were reduced during the marriage was marital equity and that the remaining equity in the properties was respondent's nonmarital property.