Youngstown, FL asked in Foreclosure, Real Estate Law, Banking and Probate for Florida

Q: What to do when a house is destroyed during a Cat 5 hurricane and you're still going through probate.

Hello. In 2018 a deceased family member's home was destroyed by Category 5 Hurricane Michael while still in probate. We had been keeping up with all payments on the estate, until we were told by Wells Fargo that they would no longer accept payments. We have had a case open since October 2018, which was closed last week for absolutely no reason. Not only that, but we have been assigned over 15 representatives at Wells Fargo. No one EVER returned our calls. Now, we have the probate orders in hand and we STILL can't rely on anyone at Wells Fargo. We haven't been able to make payments on the property since October 2018 AND we haven't been able to file an insurance claim to repair the property (the home has several trees through it). We are at our wits end and have no idea what to do. Dealing with our own property damage on top of the probated property with Wells Fargo has been and absolute nightmare.

1 Lawyer Answer
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Answered
  • Probate Lawyer
  • Tallahassee, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: Having the probate papers will not stop Wells Fargo Bank--unless you can convince the probate judge to take jurisdiction in order to preserve the assets of the estate. This strategy will require someone with proper credentials to appraise the storm damaged property high enough to be able to sell it and repay Wells Fargo in full. If the professional appraisal does not come in high enough, you (and the other heirs) will have to find a way to let it go into foreclosure and then perhaps buy it back when it is sold. You cannot hope to do all this without professional legal help, so hire a good banking lawyer to implement the strategy.

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