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years in issue Ms. Orum, and not petitioner, was (1) the legal
owner of the LA property and (2) indebted to Countrywide on the
mortgage loan it had made on the property. Although we find that
petitioner may have made mortgage payments, real estate tax
payments, and insurance premium payments for the LA residence,
there is no objective evidence to persuade us that he had
equitable ownership of the LA residence during the years in
issue. The record lacks sufficient evidence, most notably Ms.
Orum’s testimony, of the purported arrangement with petitioner.
Further, petitioner testified that Ms. Orum made no deposits into
their joint checking account, where all mortgage, insurance, and
real estate tax payments were made. His testimony, without more,
is insufficient. See Loria v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-420
(taxpayer’s attempt to establish equitable ownership with his
sole testimony is insufficient).
Based upon our examination of the entire record in this
case, we find that petitioner failed to establish that he was the
equitable owner of the LA property during the years in issue, or
that he is entitled to deduct for those years the mortgage loan
interest he paid on that property. We therefore sustain
respondent’s determination disallowing the mortgage loan interest
deductions that petitioner claimed on his 1995 and 1996 returns.
Petitioner claimed Schedule A deductions for real estate
taxes paid of $2,087 and $2,309 on his respective 1995 and 1996
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