Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

Re: partition suit-one owner refuses to sell

Since the reluctant seller has signed a contract and has agreed to sell, if the deal goes through, it would be premature to start the partition suit now, as if the deal goes through the effort will be wasted. Plus, the court will not act on the suit while the current contract is pending, as the relief you will be requesting (partition or an order of sale) is already accomplished by the current contract, if the closing takes place.

Re: partition suit-one owner refuses to sell

It would appear that you may have a breach of contract action and may be entitled to specific relief or damages if the Real Estate matter does not go through due to the reluctant seller. If the matter does not go through, then you should consider a partition action.

You should consult with a lawyer. Please feel free to call me.

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Re: partition suit-one owner refuses to sell

Obviously, if the current transaction goes through, you don't have to worry about a partition suit. (I'm assuming that you and your two partners have an agreement on how the sales proceeds will be divided. If not, I guess you will have to worry about a lawsuit anyway.)

If the current sale falls through, and your partner refuses to sell, as a partner, you have a legal right to file a partition suit. If the case does not settle, the judge can order the property sold and the proceeds divided according to whatever your partnership agreement stipulates. Although it is called a "partition" lawsuit, in practical terms, a piece of land with a single home on it cannot practically be "partitioned" among the three partners, so the court will order the property sold, and it is the proceeds of the sale that will be partitioned. The judge will probably be somewhat curious about your reasons for selling, but that is not a negative. The assumption will be that you want to sell to get your money back out of the property, including whatever profit may have accrued. This is a perfectly legitimate reason to want to sell.

Regarding attorney's fees and litigation expenses, if you need to file a partition lawsuit, it will probably cost you a few thousand dollars even if the case settles relatively early in the process. If it does not settle and you go through a trial to verdict, it would not be unusual for your attorney's fees and costs to be in the range of $20,000 - $30,000, perhaps more. It all depends on what issues are raised and how hard your partners want to fight about it. It may be possible to get reimbursement of some or all of your costs and attorney's fees from your partner's share of the proceeds, if you can establish he is acting in bad faith in blocking a sale. I have handled similar work in the past, and generally what is really going on is that the non-cooperative partner has decided he wants a bigger share of the proceeds, and is using the non-cooperation as "leverage" to get you and the second partner to offer him a bigger share.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss retaining my services. You definitely need an attorney if you want to pursue legal action in this matter.