If the dwelling is owned by the judgment debtor as a joint tenant or tenant in common or if the interest of the judgment debtor in the dwelling is a leasehold or other interest less than a fee interest:
§ 704.820.Dwelling Owned By Debtor As Joint Tenant Or Tenant In Common Or Is Leasehold
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 4. Exemptions · Article 4. Homestead Exemption · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 704.820 provides that when a debtor owns a dwelling as a joint tenant, tenant in common, or through a leasehold, only the debtor's own interest is sold at execution, each co-owner debtor applies the homestead exemption to their own share, and references to "dwelling" or "homestead" mean that debtor's interest.
Full Text of § 704.820
(a) At an execution sale of a dwelling, the interest of the judgment debtor in the dwelling and not the dwelling shall be sold. If there is more than one judgment debtor of the judgment creditor, the interests of the judgment debtors in the dwelling shall be sold together and each of the judgment debtors entitled to a homestead exemption is entitled to apply his or her exemption to his or her own interest.
(b) For the purposes of this section, all references in this article to the "dwelling" or "homestead" are deemed to be references to the interest of the judgment debtor in the dwelling or homestead.
Plain-English Summary
Not every homeowner owns a home outright and alone. This section addresses what happens when the debtor's stake in the dwelling is a joint tenancy, tenancy in common, leasehold, or some other interest short of full fee ownership. At an execution sale, it's the debtor's interest in the dwelling that gets sold — not the dwelling itself, and not anyone else's ownership share.
Where more than one debtor of the same creditor holds an interest, their interests get sold together, but each debtor who qualifies for a homestead exemption applies that exemption to their own individual interest. One co-owner's exemption doesn't get borrowed by another, and one co-owner's lack of an exemption doesn't reduce another's.
Subdivision (b) makes this a matter of interpretation throughout the whole article: wherever the statute talks about "the dwelling" or "the homestead," in this context it means the debtor's own interest in that dwelling or homestead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What gets sold if the debtor only owns a share of the home?
Only the debtor's own interest in the dwelling is sold at execution, whether that interest is a joint tenancy, tenancy in common, leasehold, or something less than full ownership.
If two co-owners are both judgment debtors, do they share one homestead exemption?
No. Each judgment debtor entitled to a homestead exemption applies that exemption to their own interest in the dwelling.
Does this change what the terms "dwelling" and "homestead" mean elsewhere in the article?
For a debtor in this situation, yes — those terms are read to mean the debtor's own interest in the dwelling or homestead, not the property as a whole.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: joint tenancy homestead exemption californiaco-owner homestead exemption ccp 704.820tenant in common house sold judgment california