In California, a Partition action is used to resolve disputes between property owners, and results in sale of the property or physical division. The most common result is a judicial sale of the property, made by a referee appointed by and accountable to the court. The referee is typically a licensed real estate broker. In a recent decision out of Nevada County, after the sale one of the co-owners sued the broker. The Court sided with the broker, finding that he was entitled to qualified judicial immunity.
In Holt v. Brock, (85 Cal. App. 5th 611 (2022), reh’g denied (Dec. 13, 2022), review denied (Mar. 15, 2023)) a brother and sister could not agree on what to do with an inherited house, so one filed for partition. Brock was appointed and the court ordered the parties to sign a listing agreement, the property to be sold “as is” with a listing price of at least $882,500, the actual listing price to be determined by the broker’s assessment of current market value.
The plaintiff offered to buy the property for $1 million if the broker reduced his commission to 3%. There is some dispute as to what happened, but after agreeing the broker decided he would not change the listing agreement. The house sold to the highest bidder for less than $1 million, and the plaintiff sued the broker.