Auction/Real Estate Fraud?

[tschey]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My Aunt (who is an 85 year old invilid) recently auctioned off her home on 1 1/2 acres. Another family member gave her a quick claim deed for their 2 acres beside it. I happen to own property that runs right between these two parcells (all 3 have their own parcell ID #). I still have a mortgage on my property and did not agree to sell mine at auction. The auctioneer sold this as one tract without my (or the banks) consent. The auctioneer pressured my Aunt to sign the contract of sale and fax it to her from her assisted living center office. Because of the shady conduct the auctioneer has been displaying, my Aunts son (who is handling her financial afairs) contacted him by phone message and e-mail and told him that he was to hold off on proceeding with the contract until he had a chance to look over everything. The auctioneer ignored him and has continued to try and push this through. My questions now are as follows:
1. Due to the fact that the auctioneer knowingly misrepresented this tract and sold it anyway, do we have the right to end this transaction?
2. Can he be fired and the contract be made null and void?
3. Could our family end up paying for his actions if they do back out?
4. Even though my Aunt and her son signed a contract binding them to the auctioneer, can they fire him and not be bound to him due to his conduct?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My Aunt (who is an 85 year old invilid) recently auctioned off her home on 1 1/2 acres. Another family member gave her a quick claim deed for their 2 acres beside it. I happen to own property that runs right between these two parcells (all 3 have their own parcell ID #). I still have a mortgage on my property and did not agree to sell mine at auction. The auctioneer sold this as one tract without my (or the banks) consent. The auctioneer pressured my Aunt to sign the contract of sale and fax it to her from her assisted living center office. Because of the shady conduct the auctioneer has been displaying, my Aunts son (who is handling her financial afairs) contacted him by phone message and e-mail and told him that he was to hold off on proceeding with the contract until he had a chance to look over everything. The auctioneer ignored him and has continued to try and push this through. My questions now are as follows:
1. Due to the fact that the auctioneer knowingly misrepresented this tract and sold it anyway, do we have the right to end this transaction?
2. Can he be fired and the contract be made null and void?
3. Could our family end up paying for his actions if they do back out?
4. Even though my Aunt and her son signed a contract binding them to the auctioneer, can they fire him and not be bound to him due to his conduct?

**A: you have a huge mess. Now go see an attorney.

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My Aunt (who is an 85 year old invilid) recently auctioned off her home on 1 1/2 acres. Another family member gave her a quick claim deed for their 2 acres beside it. I happen to own property that runs right between these two parcells (all 3 have their own parcell ID #). I still have a mortgage on my property and did not agree to sell mine at auction. The auctioneer sold this as one tract without my (or the banks) consent. The auctioneer pressured my Aunt to sign the contract of sale and fax it to her from her assisted living center office. Because of the shady conduct the auctioneer has been displaying, my Aunts son (who is handling her financial afairs) contacted him by phone message and e-mail and told him that he was to hold off on proceeding with the contract until he had a chance to look over everything. The auctioneer ignored him and has continued to try and push this through. My questions now are as follows:
1. Due to the fact that the auctioneer knowingly misrepresented this tract and sold it anyway, do we have the right to end this transaction?
2. Can he be fired and the contract be made null and void?
3. Could our family end up paying for his actions if they do back out?
4. Even though my Aunt and her son signed a contract binding them to the auctioneer, can they fire him and not be bound to him due to his conduct?

The "contract" cannot include your property if you did not join in. The auctioneer failed in his due diligencen- a simple ownership check, not even a full fledged title report, could have easilly revealed that the land was not owned by his client. Did aunt represent this third parcel as hers in the listing contract with the auctioneer, because, if she did, she could also be liable. However, you are not bound by the auction.

Oh, BTW, there is no such thing as a "quick deed".

 

[nextwife]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My Aunt (who is an 85 year old invilid) recently auctioned off her home on 1 1/2 acres. Another family member gave her a quick claim deed for their 2 acres beside it. I happen to own property that runs right between these two parcells (all 3 have their own parcell ID #). I still have a mortgage on my property and did not agree to sell mine at auction. The auctioneer sold this as one tract without my (or the banks) consent. The auctioneer pressured my Aunt to sign the contract of sale and fax it to her from her assisted living center office. Because of the shady conduct the auctioneer has been displaying, my Aunts son (who is handling her financial afairs) contacted him by phone message and e-mail and told him that he was to hold off on proceeding with the contract until he had a chance to look over everything. The auctioneer ignored him and has continued to try and push this through. My questions now are as follows:
1. Due to the fact that the auctioneer knowingly misrepresented this tract and sold it anyway, do we have the right to end this transaction?
2. Can he be fired and the contract be made null and void?
3. Could our family end up paying for his actions if they do back out?
4. Even though my Aunt and her son signed a contract binding them to the auctioneer, can they fire him and not be bound to him due to his conduct?

The "contract" cannot include your property. The auctioneer failed in his due diligence- a simple ownership check, not even a full fledged title report, could have easily revealed that the land was not owned by his client. Did aunt represent this third parcel as hers in the listing contract with the auctioneer, because, if she did, she could also be liable. However, you are not bound by the auction.

 

[tschey]

The auctioneer absolutely knew about the land situation. He was even trying to negotiate a fair dollar amount for the land and mentioned giving me paperwork to look over and sign so that my property could be included in the auction. The last communication I had with him was three days before the auction. I flat out told him that my property was not going up, nothing was sold. In fact he knew this from the get go and still advertised this as 1 tract.

 

[tranquility]

I agree with HomeGuru. There are lots of parties here with lots of claims and issues and I bet money this is ending up in court. Better to get an attorney now and move carefully in the beginning than to get one later and try to run to catch up and to fix mistakes.