Tenants in Common and rights to allow child to stay in home

[Asking2Know]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I am still listed as a tenant in common on the deed for a townhouse in Virginia. My ex and his young adult daughter (aged 20) still live there. I couldn't take the emotional abuse from him any longer, so I gave up and moved. I am still close to his daughter, who is now his only whipping post. She finally decided to stand up to him but he pushed back with telling her she has to get out. She has no where to go live and unfortunately I don't have the funds to help her move and I have moved out of state. She asked me if I am allowed to give her the rights to stay there if I am still half owner of the property. And I said that I would find out.....Anyone know the answer??

[divgradcurl]

You should research the landlord-tenant laws with respect to tenants in common in your state. You can "rent" your half of the property to her (effectively giving her your right to enter the property), but how this would work with a common owner who was adverse to this would depend on your state's laws. Typically, when a property is owned as tenants in common, each common owner has the right to enter and use the whole property. If one of the common owners excludes one or more of the other common owners, then the common owner who is occupying the whole property generally is liable to the other owners for a reasonable rent. In other words, if one owner is using the whole property for themselves, and there is no agreement to the contrary, the owner occupying the property would have to pay rent to the other owner(s). Usually these rules apply to tenants as well -- if one owner rented the whole property to a tenant, the owner would have to share the rental fees with the other owners.

That said, you need to look into the laws in your jurisdiction, as they may vary, and may provide more or less protection to a tenant in this type of situation.