Court Opinion

ID: 9686009
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 15:13:39.088455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:12.589570
License: Public Domain

Blair Moody, Jr., J.
(concurring in the result). I concur with the result reached by Justice Kavanagh. This matter should be remanded to the *555trial court to permit plaintiff to present evidence of defendant Marie Ledford’s involvement and participation in the establishment and operation of the drag strip. I write separately to delineate certain classic principles of real property law which are applicable to this case and to outline certain essential elements which should be considered on remand.
I
This case presents a unique, hybrid situation. We are asked to determine the effect of tortious activity upon the relationship of two persons who own property as tenants in common. Any analysis, therefore, must focus on the exact nature of the relationship of those who hold land as tenants in common.
Tenancy in common as distinguished from other types of concurrent ownership, such as joint tenancy or tenancy by the entireties, is a type of co-ownership whereby each of the cotenants has a separate and distinct interest in property; but the right of possession is common to all the cotenants. Unity of possession is the essential dynamic present in all tenancies in common. Unity of possession means that each cotenant is entitled to possession of the whole property and every part thereof, subject to the same right in the other cotenants. Moynihan, Introduction to the Law of Real Property, ch 10, § 4, p 224.
Although it is well recognized that the right of possession of the whole property is vested in each tenant in common, situations often arise where one tenant in common takes possession of the whole or conducts an activity which would preclude possession by the other tenants in common. Such situations may develop because of the con*556sent or acquiescence of the other tenants in common or when one tenant in common claims exclusive possession of the land in a fashion adverse to the interest of the other tenants in common.
Because of the relative frequency of exclusive possession by one tenant in common, courts have been called upon to fashion remedies when the other tenants in common are aggrieved by the exclusive possession. An action in ejectment will lie when there is exclusive, adverse and hostile possession and the court may order partition of the property. Fenton v Miller, 116 Mich 45; 74 NW 384 (1898). The result differs when the exclusive possession is by consent or acquiescence.
In Zwergel v Zwergel, 224 Mich 31; 194 NW 505 (1923); an action was brought by one cotenant against a second cotenant for rents and profits for the operation of a store on property owned by both cotenants.1 The facts in Zwergel were that plaintiff did not participate in the establishment or operation of the store and that all the stock in trade of the business was owned solely by defendant. Further, defendant occupied the store with the assent of plaintiff. This Court rejected plaintiff’s claims for defendant’s occupancy and profits, reflecting that if mere ownership were the standard an inequity would result. Plaintiff had neither participated in the establishment nor in the operation of the store and any award to plaintiff would be inappropriate. Zwergel, supra, 35.
The converse of the Zwergel holding is repre*557sented by Walton v Walton, 287 Mich 557; 283 NW 687 (1939). In Walton, defendant and plaintiff were formerly husband and wife who jointly owned and operated a business.2 Subsequent to the divorce, defendant husband had exclusive control of the operation of the business. Upon dissolution of the business, plaintiff brought suit against defendant for an accounting and division of all profits from the business. The Walton Court held that defendant must account to his cotenant for her share of the profits. Even though plaintiff was not an active participant in the business, she was entitled to share in the profits because of her interest in the stock in trade of the business. Walton, supra, 562.
There is a common thread between the Zwergel and Walton cases. Mere ownership of property is an insufficient basis for an award of damages in favor of one tenant in common for the exclusive possession and operation of a business on the common property by another cotenant. More is required. There must be some participation by the aggrieved cotenant in the venture on jointly held property before damages will be awarded.
The Zwergel and Walton holdings also have a bearing, by analogy at least, in the context of the instant case. If fundamental fairness dictates that a tenant in common, as in Zwergel, who has exclusive possession of common property by the consent or acquiescence of his cotenants retain all the profits from a venture on the property, fundamental fairness should also dictate that the exclusive possessor be responsible for any and all liabilities which result from the possessor’s activities on *558the property. It would decry logic to allow an exclusive possessor to retain all profits but require his or her cotenants to share in the liabilities.
However, as in Walton, a different result would pertain if the non-possessory cotenant actually participated in the venture. Whether this involvement or participation occurred through ownership of stock, subsidy of the venture, or actual management, the cotenant would have a basis to participate in profits and, likewise, would be liable both to his cotenant and to third parties for tortious activity that resulted from the venture. Thus, it is the very relationship between the tenants in common which dictates whether the parties will share in the advantages and liabilities of their ventures.
II
The pertinent facts in the instant case are the following: In early 1970, defendant James Ledford entered into construction contracts for a drag strip race track to be built on a parcel of land then owned solely by defendant Marie Ledford. On May 6, 1970, for the sum of $500, Marie Ledford executed a quitclaim deed for the 25-acre parcel of land upon which the drag strip was built to herself and James Ledford as tenants in common. On May 30, 1970, plaintiff’s decedent, a spectator, was fatally injured in an automobile mishap at the drag strip.
At trial, James Ledford testified that he was the sole manager and operator of the drag strip and that Marie Ledford played no part in the management of the track. Marie Ledford did not testify at trial. When judgment was rendered against both defendants, Marie Ledford brought a motion for new trial. In her motion, Marie Ledford pled that she had no involvement whatsoever in the man*559agement and operation of the drag strip and received no profits from its operation.
From this factual backdrop, it would be arguable on one level that defendant Marie Ledford should bear no responsibility and therefore no liability for the death that occurred, because she had no "control” over the day-to-day operation of the drag strip. But as the Walton case so vividly demonstrates, control is not the exclusive governing principle. Liability of a tenant in common is not only predicated upon the tort concept of control but is also predicated on the property concept of involvement, of participation in the venture.
Although, admittedly, the factual development of this case as regards defendant Marie Ledford is rather scant, even from these facts there appears to be evidence that might be considered by a jury to find her potentially liable. For instance, the jury might consider that Marie Ledford, by selling James Ledford an undivided one-half interest in a 25-acre parcel of land for $500, in effect subsidized the creation of the drag strip. If it were determined that she was a participant in the establishment of the drag strip, her liability would follow.
The chief problem with this argument and the major problem with the entire case, for that matter, is the lack of factual information on which to base a firm conclusion concerning Marie Ledford’s participation in the drag-strip operation. A myriad of questions remain unanswered. For example, we do not know whether Marie Ledford subsidized the establishment of the drag strip by direct capital outlays. Further, we have no information about who paid the property taxes on the parcel of land or, if it were necessary to sell or partition the land to satisfy the judgment in this case, how the profits would have been divided.
*560Ill
Because the instant factual setting presents a true hybrid situation, encompassing tort concepts of control and property concepts of involvement and participation in a venture, this matter should be remanded to the trial court not only to allow plaintiff the opportunity to present evidence of Marie Ledford’s control over the operation of the drag strip but also to allow plaintiff to present evidence of her involvement and participation, as a co-owner of the real estate, in the establishment and operation of the drag strip.
J.Williams, J., concurred with Blair Moody, Jr.,

 In Zwergel, the cotenants were a brother and sister who held the land as joint tenants with the right of survivorship. Generally speaking, there is a certain risk in comparing fact situations and legal analyses involving joint tenancies with tenancies in common because the legal principles involved may differ. However, it is readily apparent from Walton v Walton, 287 Mich 557; 283 NW 687 (1939), that the legal principles enunciated in Zwergel are equally applicable to situations involving tenants in common.

 By statute, in Michigan, a husband and wife who own real estate as joint tenants or as tenants by entireties become tenants in common upon being divorced, unless otherwise provided by the judgment of divorce. MCL 552.102; MSA 25.132.