Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the liability of that portion of the fund allocated for the purposes of this chapter may not exceed fifteen thousand dollars for any one licensee. If the fifteen thousand dollar liability of the fund is insufficient to pay in full the valid claims of all aggrieved persons by whom claims have been filed against any one licensee, such fifteen thousand dollars must be distributed among them in the ratio that their respective claims bear to the aggregate of such valid claims or in such other manner as the court deems equitable. Distribution of such moneys must be among the persons entitled to share therein, without regard to the order or priority in which their respective judgments may have been obtained or their claims have been filed. Upon petition of the commission the court may require all claimants and prospective claimants against one licensee to be joined in one action, to the end that the respective rights of all such claimants to the fund may be equitably adjudicated and settled.