Dilonell

BACKGROUND

In June 2018, after Dilonell substituted in as plaintiff, she obtained an appraisal of the property at $960,000 and sought to buy Chandler’s interest at the appraised value. Chandler brought two motions to have a partition referee appointed to list and sell the property. Chandler was concerned that a sale price based on an appraisal alone would not reflect the property’s true value, which she believed to be about $1.5 million. As relevant to this appeal, Judge Richard Burdge, Jr., sitting in Department 37, denied the motion for a partition referee and on October 2, 2019, issued the first order directing the sale of the property and specifying procedures for the sale. The order directed the parties to select a neutral third party broker and provided that the listing price would be determined by that broker. The order specified that “[a]ny written offer for less than the listing price shall require the written acceptance of both parties.” The listing period was 90 days, but paragraph 9 of the order provided that if no offer at the listing price was received in the first two weeks of the listing, “either party can purchase the property at the listing price without any…