A co-tenant is a person who shares an interest in the same property with one or more other people. This term is often used in the real estate industry and in legal contexts.
Co-tenancy is one form of concurrent ownership, which is when two or more people own an interest in the same property at the same time. Other forms of concurrent ownership include joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety.
In a tenants in common arrangement, each co-tenant owns a separate and distinct share of the property, which may be different in size from the shares of the other co-tenants. For instance, one co-tenant could own 25% of the property, while another owns 75%. Each co-tenant has the right to use and possess the entire property, regardless of the size of their share.