2016 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 15 - Civil Remedies and Procedures
CHAPTER 61 - PARTITION
Section 15-61-370. Cotenant requesting partition by sale.

Section effective January 1, 2017.

(A) If any cotenant requests partition by sale, after the determination of value pursuant to Section 15-61-360, the party filing the partition action, after receipt of the value information from the clerk's office, shall send notice to the parties that any cotenant, except a cotenant that requested partition by sale, may buy all of the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale.

(B) A cotenant, except a cotenant that requested partition by sale, who is interested in purchasing the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale, shall notify the court of that interest no later than ten days prior to the date set for the partition trial. A cotenant that did not request partition by sale must be allowed to purchase the interests of any cotenant who requested a partition by sale, as provided in this article, whether default has been entered against the cotenant or not.

(C) The purchase price for each of the interests of a cotenant that requested partition by sale is the value of the entire parcel determined pursuant to Section 15-61-360 multiplied by the cotenant's fractional ownership of the entire parcel.

(D) After the expiration of the period in subsection (B), the following requirements apply:

(1) If only one cotenant elects to buy all the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale, the court shall notify the party filing the partition action of that fact. After receiving notice from the court, the party filing the partition action shall notify all the parties of that same fact.

(2) If more than one cotenant elects to buy all the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale, the court, by order, shall allocate the right to buy those interests among the electing cotenants based on each electing cotenant's existing fractional ownership of the entire parcel divided by the total existing fractional ownership of all cotenants electing to buy. The court shall send notice of the order to the party that filed the partition action and, within one week from the date notice was sent, the party filing the partition action shall send a copy of the order showing the price to be paid by each electing cotenant to all other cotenants with a known address.

(3) If no cotenant elects to buy all the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale, the court shall notify the party filing the partition action to send notice to all the parties of that fact and the court shall resolve the partition action, by order, pursuant to Section 15-61-380.

(E) If notices are sent to the parties under subsection (D)(1) or (2), the court shall set a date, not sooner than sixty days after the date the notice was sent, by which electing cotenants must pay their apportioned price into the court. After this date, the following requirements apply:

(1) If all electing cotenants timely pay their apportioned price into court, the court shall issue an order reallocating all the interests of the cotenants and disburse the amounts held by the court to the persons entitled to them.

(2) If no electing cotenant timely pays its apportioned price, the court shall resolve the partition action pursuant to Section 15-61-380(A) and (B), as if the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale were not purchased.

(3) If one or more but not all of the electing cotenants fail to pay their apportioned price on time, the court, on motion, shall order the party so moving to give notice to the electing cotenants that paid their apportioned price of the interest remaining and the price for all the interests.

(F) Not later than twenty days after notice is sent pursuant to subsection (E)(3), any cotenant who paid may elect to purchase all of the remaining interest by paying the entire price into the court. After an additional twenty-day period, the following requirements apply:

(1) If only one cotenant pays the entire price for the remaining interests, the court shall issue an order reallocating the remaining interests to that cotenant and disburse the amounts held by it to the persons entitled to them.

(2) If no cotenant pays the entire price for the remaining interests, the court shall resolve the partition action pursuant to Section 15-61-380, as if the interests of the cotenants that requested partition by sale were not purchased.

(3) If more than one cotenant pays the entire price for the remaining interests, the court shall reapportion the remaining interests among those paying cotenants, based on each paying cotenant's original fractional ownership of the entire parcel divided by the total original fractional ownership of all cotenants that paid the entire price for the remaining interests. The court shall issue promptly an order reallocating all of the cotenants' interests, disburse the amounts held by it to the persons entitled to them, and promptly refund any excess payment held by the court.

(G) Not later than forty days after the party filing the partition action sends notice to the parties pursuant to subsection (A), any cotenant entitled to buy an interest under this section may request the court to authorize a sale as part of the pending action of the interests of cotenants named as defendants and served with the complaint, but that did not appear in the action.

(H) If the court receives a timely request under subsection (G), the court, after a hearing, may deny the request or authorize the requested additional sale on such terms as the court determines are fair and reasonable, subject to the following limitations:

(1) A sale authorized under this subsection may occur only after the purchase prices for all interests subject to sale under subsections (A) through (F) have been paid into court and those interests have been reallocated among the cotenants as provided in those subsections.

(2) The purchase price for the interest of a nonappearing cotenant is based on the court's determination of value pursuant to Section 15-61-360.

HISTORY: 2016 Act No. 153 (H.3325), Section 1, eff January 1, 2017.

Editor's Note

2016 Act No. 153, Section 6, provides as follows:

"SECTION 6. This act takes effect on January 1, 2017, and applies to partition actions filed on or after that date."