842.17.Interlocutory judgment of sale.

When dividing the land itself would harm the owners, section 842.17 lets the court turn to a sale. If the land, or a portion of it, is so situated that partition cannot be made without prejudice to the owners, and there are no tenants or lienholders involved, the court may order the sheriff to sell the affected premises at public auction.

Tenants and lienholders complicate that picture, so the section works through their positions separately. If a lienholder or tenant consents to a sale of their interest, or is unknown, the value of that interest is paid to them or set aside from the sale proceeds before any distribution is made to the cotenants seeking partition. If a lienholder or tenant does not consent, the court may instead order the sale subject to that lien or tenant interest, leaving it attached to the property rather than cashing it out.

A further rule targets a specific kind of nonconsenting tenant: one whose interest came from less than all of the cotenant owners. In that situation, the sale may go forward without that tenant’s consent, and the tenant’s interest is sold along with the rest, with its value paid to the tenant out of the proceeds owed to the cotenant who acted as the tenant’s lessor.