Cap. 16 Art. 495AWhere co-owners fail to agree in respect of a sale of a thing held in common.

(1) Except in cases of condominium or necessary community of property, where co-ownership has lasted for more than three years and none of the owners has instituted an action before a court or other tribunal for the partition of the property held in common, and the co-owners fail to agree with regard to the sale of any particular property, the court shall if it is satisfied that none of the dissident co-owners are seriously prejudiced thereby, authorise the sale in accordance with the wish of the majority of co-owners regard being had to the value of the shares held by each co-owner.

(2) The request to the court shall be made by application which shall be accompanied by a declaration of the owners who agree to the sale as well as a prospectus showing the number and value of the shares held by each of them as well as the terms and conditions under which the sale is to take place. The application shall also indicate the date on which the co-ownership arose and the circumstances thereof.

(3) The application shall be served on the co-owners who do not agree with the sale as well as on curators to be appointed by the court to represent such of the co-owners who are unknown or who cannot be traced. The registrar shall cause a copy of the application to be published in the Gazette and in one daily newspaper.

(4) A declaration that any co-owner is not known or cannot be traced shall be confirmed on oath by one of the applicants.

(5) The other co-owners as well as the curators may within twenty days from service upon them of the application, or in the case of a co-owner who has not been served with the application within twenty days from the last publication referred to in sub-article (3), oppose the sale stating the serious prejudice that they or the co-owners represented by them may suffer because of the sale.

(6) In assessing whether there will be serious prejudice to any of the co-owners, the court shall take into consideration all relevant factors including the value of the property and the price of the sale, and may for this purpose order that the property be appraised in accordance with the provisions of article 306 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure.

(7) The court shall determine the application, and where it determines that the sale is to take place, it shall determine the price or other consideration for the sale and it shall further -

(a) determine the time, date and place, when and where the transfer is to take place;

(b) where the sale is to be effected by a public deed, appoint a notary to publish the deed;

(c) appoint a curator, even among the co-owners themselves, to represent any of the co-owners who fail to appear on the notarial deed or other instrument of transfer.

(8) The court may, on an application by any party interested, change the date, time or place where the transfer is to take place.

(9) If more than one co-owner opposes the transfer or where the court rejects the application in terms of sub-article (7), the court may, notwithstanding the other provisions of this article, order the sale by licitation of the property in accordance with the provisions of articles 521 and 522.