Q: My mothers husband owned property and they are both deceased. The property is in foreclosure. I've been contacted.
I spoke to an attorney a few years back who advised if I wanted to pursue the property I should be prepared to spend thousands & thousands of dollars which I'm not prepared to do. My question is do I just wait for everything to play out and be contacted by the courts on the outcome. Property in Brooklyn NYC. Multi family dwelling.
A: It depends if you are an heir of the property and what you want to happen. It also depends if there is any equity. I would need much more information.
A:
If the property is in foreclosure and you have an interest in the property (not clear from your fact pattern, since you said your mother's husband owned the property) you most certainly do not want to wait to see how everything plays out.
The court will only contact you for things like hearing dates (and if that, only if the court has your proper mailing address). Other documents, pleadings, motions and the like get served by the lender's attorney, not the Court. Not responding will typically result in the plaintiff-lender winning by default.
You will certainly want to be involved in the foreclosure case to have any chance of preserving whatever interest you may have. As you allude to, litigation can be expensive, but having an experienced attorney representing you will most always have a benefit to preserving your legal and financial rights.
A: This is an issue that you should explore with an estate planning / litigation attorney. Please feel free to contact me for a free consultation as my office handles probate and real estate matters regularly.
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