The petitioner's brother owned a home but became unemployed and could no longer make the monthly mortgage payment. The petitioner's made the mortgage payments for her brother and attempted to deduct the mortgage interest paid for the tax year at issue. The IRS denied the deduction and the court agreed. To deduct mortgage interest, the petitioner had to be the "owner" of the home. The court noted that the petitioner's brother was the sole legal owner of the home under state (CA) law, and the brother was also the beneficial/equitable owner under CA law. There was no agreement to give the petitioner an ownership interest in the home and the petitioner voluntarily made the payments, never contributed to the down payment and provided no other evidence of any ownership interest in the home. Puentes v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2014-224.