Horne v. Aune
Washington Court of Appeals
121 P.3d 1227 (2005)
Horne (plaintiff) and Aune (defendant), experienced real estate investors, jointly bought a house as tenants in common under a partnership agreement addressing what would happen if either was removed by law enforcement or a restraining order; after an altercation, Aune left following Horne obtaining a restraining order against him, and Horne sued to dissolve the partnership and requested to buy out Aune's interest rather than force a public sale. The trial court found the partnership agreement valid, valued the $335,000 house against its $235,000 mortgage, and ordered Horne to buy Aune's interest for $50,000; Aune argued the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA) required a public sale instead, and both parties cross-appealed.
Whether the Revised Uniform Partnership Act requires a public sale of partnership property as the only permissible means of liquidating partnership assets during winding up.