Co-Property Owner and Rights

[badboy]

My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: California

I am 50% Co-Owner of property (raw land). The land is paid off and the other owner lost his share to the court (Bankruptcy). They are now asking me to buy the land or agree to have it listed for sale through a Realtor they have chosen. If I do not agree they will go to court and obtain an order from the judge to do so.

I will not be buying the land at the current offering as it is too high for me.

Would I be giving up any rights by agreeing outright to the request?

Can I request to be involved in the process and sale or will I just become a bystander?

What fees and compensation from the sale are paid to each of the involved parties for their roles? court, trustee, lawyer and listing agent?

How long before the court would give up on a sale if there were no offers? Which may be the case since it is land and there may be obstacles to building including easement issues?

[jk]

the trustee has a right to demand fair market value. If they are asking more than fair market value, there is no reason you should not be able to negotiate the price. You should not expect to be offered the land at any real discount. After all, they are selling the land to raise funds to pay the debts of your partner. The more money they can raise, the more creditors that will receive payment on their claims.

If you refuse to allow the listing and they seek the courts permission, you have no say in anything unless they allow it. Before it gets to that point, you can try to benefit from the agreeing to the listing. I would seek a right of first refusal. If they are presented an acceptable offer, I would ask to be given the first right of refusal and be given the opportunity to match that price before it is sold to another.

Then, if they cannot sell it in a negotiated sale, they can auction the property. If they auction the land, you would have a right to bid on the property just as everybody else in the world has.

Yes, there are fees for everybody involved. What they would be offhand I do not know but you can rest assured, everybody is entitled to be paid for their work.

and they aren't going to give up on selling the land. That is why they seized it. The easements and such simply make it worth less than unencumbered land but there is a determinable market value for the land. Even if it ends up at auction, they will sell the land, at some price.