Unethical or Illegal Problems With Estate Sale Companies – What You Need To Know
The majority of 14,000 plus estate sale companies are honest, hardworking people that deserve kudos for the work they do, however, every once in a while as in all businesses an estate liquidation company will not operate the way they are expected to.
Estate Sales News is contacting all the estate sale listing websites, and the websites that offer to teach you to become an estate liquidator to find out what they can and cannot do with companies that inappropriately handle estates.
It should be clearly stated that we are not talking about sellers not achieving the financial results they had hoped for or frivolous complaints. As in most of life there are no guarantees, however, we are addressing serious issues of unethical behavior, failure to pay sellers or failure to account.
Over the course of the next two weeks we will be writing about what each of these listing websites can or cannot do as well as the teaching associations and societies. Sellers should be aware of what to expect, what can be done, how to do it, and who to turn to.
This set of articles will be fair and unbiased. Estate Sales News is here to inform, enlighten and empower you as news media and information sources do.
We encourage you to reach out if you have a serious unethical problem or believe something illegal has been committed, but remember we are discussing serious issues not disappointments.
Look for our articles starting after Labor Day.
Considerations When More Than One Seller Is Involved In An Estate Sale
Today so many families are downsizing their older parents or in need of liquidating the personal property because of loved ones passing it often involves more than one person or seller. There may be siblings, cousins, or children of the individual/s.
It is not unusual for those in charge of liquidating the contents to have different or opposing opinions on the disposition of the estate.
If it involves people other than a married couple it is usually a wise idea to consult with an attorney to settle any differences and determine who will be responsible for hiring an estate sale company. Having everything decided and signed off legally makes moving forward in the estate sale process easier for all those involved.
Deciding if there are any personal belongings you want to keep should also be done before calling an estate liquidator. This enables the estate sale company to determine whether or not they feel they can achieve your goals. Seeing what’s for sale, the amount to be sold, the condition of the items, etc. is very important to the company.
It is also very important for the success of the sale in general to know which party the estate liquidator will be dealing with. Conducting an estate sale is a big job and if the company only has to correspond with one individual or couple it enables the process to run at a smoother pace.
Once the estate liquidation process begins keeping other sellers involved in the loop should be the responsibility of the primary seller. It should be stressed that once an estate sale company starts advertising and setting up the sale no items that were to be included should be removed or sold by any of the sellers party.
It is advisable that if the property is to be sold any Realtors involved be informed that if they show the property their clients will have to purchase items through the estate sale company at the time of the sale. Most estate sale contracts will include such a clause if the property is going to be for sale.
When the decision has been made to liquidate personal contents whether downsizing or to settle an estate keeping it as uncomplicated as possible is always the wise choice to follow.