When a property owner dies, the estate is usually probated by the court and a personal representative (PR) is appointed to act on behalf of the estate of the deceased. The PR will typically list and sell any properties owned by the deceased and distribute the proceeds to the heirs. Things can get ugly when there are multiple owners to a single piece of property, they all die and different PR's are appointed.

Stacie Brown, escrow officer at Heritage Title Company in Highlands Ranch, Colo., opened a $300,000 transaction for a personal representative (PR) trying to sell a property. She was working on the file which was set to close within the next few days, when she thought something was not quite right about the PR. 

According to the title report there were currently three property owners, who all held title as joint tenants: George, Katina and Anastasia. The PR had letters of appointment, appointing her the representative for the estate of George, who according to the PR passed away AFTER Katina.

The PR kept pushing Stacie and the listing agent to get the deal closed. When Stacie asked the PR about Anastasia, the PR said she had also died previous to George and therefore, had the authorization to sign on behalf of the estate and sell the property. 

When Stacie asked for the death certificates, the PR told her she did not have any of them. Stacie told the PR we could not proceed without the death certificates and assumed the PR would track them down.

In the meantime, Stacie called the county treasurer to obtain the status of the property taxes, expecting them to be delinquent. The representative at the treasurer's office indicated the property taxes had been paid. When Stacie mentioned the paid taxes to the PR, the PR had no idea how the taxes were paid. 

Stacie called the treasurer's office again and found out the taxes had been paid by someone in Texas. She asked for the contact information for the person who had been paying the taxes on the property. Stacie kept in contact with the listing agent and they both felt something was not right about some unknown person, other than the PR, paying the property taxes on a deceased person's property.

Stacie decided to send a copy of the title work (but not the title commitment disclosing our customer names) and a cover letter to the address of the person in Texas via overnight courier. The letter explained that the property was under contract and due to close.

The next day Stacie got a call from the person in Texas who had been paying the taxes in previous years. It was Anastasia's husband. He explained that Anastasia had passed away three years prior and HE was the personal representative for her estate. He had all of the documentation to prove that he was the PR and that Anastasia was the last of the sellers to pass away, making him the one in possession of the property.

Anastasia's husband was shocked to hear that the property was set to close and was very appreciative to Stacie for sending him the documentation to alert him of the sale. He said he was not interested in selling the property and would be coming to Denver to meet with an attorney to be sure this other PR would not cause him any future problems.

Had it not been for Stacie wondering why this other PR was pushing so hard to close, and if she had not done the research on who had paid the taxes and notified that person, this property could have closed with the incorrect PR on the contract without the knowledge of the real PR in Texas.

Once the real estate agents and the buyer found out the person who signed the contract to sell the property did not have the full authority to do so, they decided to cancel the entire transaction. Stacie drew the cancellation instructions and believe it or not the PR for George's estate demanded the forfeiture of the buyer's deposit! The buyer ultimately prevailed. For Stacie's diligent efforts to discover the unknown PR, she has been rewarded $1,000 and received a letter of recognition from the Company.