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made by them on residences of which legal title was held by a
sibling of the taxpayer. These cases, however, are
distinguishable from the instant case.
In Golder v. Commissioner, supra, the taxpayers were
guarantors of a debt of their corporation, which debt was also
secured by the taxpayers' home. The Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit held that the indebtedness in that case was not
that of the taxpayers but, rather, was that of the corporation,
and that the taxpayers had merely guaranteed that debt. That is
not the situation in this case.
In Loria v. Commissioner, supra, and Song v. Commissioner,
supra, the taxpayers made mortgage payments on residences upon
which legal title was held in each case by the taxpayer's
brother. In both cases, the taxpayer's brother was also indebted
to a third party commercial mortgage lender in connection with
such residence. In both cases, the Court denied mortgage
interest deductions to the taxpayers for the reason that the
taxpayers had failed to prove that they held any equitable or
beneficial ownership in the residences. In the cases relied on
by respondent, the Court held that the subject indebtedness was
not that of the taxpayer, and that the taxpayer did not have an
ownership interest in the mortgaged property.
In the instant case, petitioners' agreement with Haluk and
Aysun coupled with petitioners' continued occupancy of the Alisal
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