[Charlottegrant]

My mom died 5 years ago. I am one of five siblings. She has a house in Pennsylvania. I did not have the time or bothered about the house but checked on it from time to time, I could not afford the taxes. I was contacted by a husband and wife who bought the house next to my mom's. They say there were from a church in Tennessee and to make a long story short, they convinced me to donate the house to their church, they would sell the contents on eBay and give 50% to the family. We filed out a quick claim deed, I signed, but it was not notarized. I told them I felt that we needed to go to record the deed, and they told we it was legal. I am still receiving tax notices in my mother's name. I have since learned they moved into my mothers house. I contacted the boro manager and was told I could make arrangements to pay the tax. I am one of five siblings. I have renunciations from them, which these parties have copies of. I began the executor process, but was unable to file with the county. I believe they did not act in good faith. She posted items on eBay using my accounts that I set up to do the business. I learned she was buying and selling and asked for an accounting, to which she asked for money from for her work. I have not spoken to them since November 2007. Now the issue of back taxes is coming up and I must make arrangements on what to do. Do I pay the taxes on my mother's property. Is the quick claim deed valid? I let them stay with me for two weeks as they had no where to go, they had small children. That is when I found that they were not acting in good faith and I asked them to leave. She stated that my mother's house was hers now and there was nothing I could do. I am writing from Pennsylvania. I also found out you have to have a license to sell on eBay. I never got the opportunity to ask this person if they were licensed. So, they are occupying my mother's house and selling items on eBay. Do I have recourse? Thank you.

[BellaMom]

You probably signed a "QUIT CLAIM DEED" - however, if the property was still I your mother's name and no estate was actually opened, the deed may be invalid. To open an estate in PA, with or without a will, you need to go to the register of wills for the county your mom died in. If your siblings signed a renunciation, that would have been to allow you to handle the estate - however, it doesn't mean that they renounced their right to any assets. If the purpose of the quit claim deed was to transfer the property, then the deed had to be recorded. Otherwise, the tax assessor doesn't know that there is a new owner - therefore, it looks like you still own the property. If you intend to transfer the property, the new people have to pay the taxes which existed and then accrued since you signed the deed. It sounds like they are not acting in good faith. However, while I am an attorney in Pa, I'm not anywhere near Allegh. County. I suggest you hire an atty out there - you should either attempt to void the transfer or force the "new owners" file the deed.
The taxes are liens on the property so they go with whoever owns the property - so you shouldn't have any responsibility for them after you actually transfer the property. I would double check with your siblings to make sure they agree with the transfer and get them to sign a Family Settlement Agreement which provides for the transfer and protects you as the Executrix.
Good luck.

[ScottGem]

The first issue is whether you had the right to sign a deed. Unless you were on record as the executor of your mom's estate then you didn't.

The second issue is whether the deed was ever recorded. Since you weren't the owner, its probable the deed was never recorded.

So there is a very good chance the deed is invalid.

Now what you need to do is establish yourself as executor and then evict them from the house. Since you allowed them to live there and they have occupied the premise for a while, they can probably have been deemed to have established residency. So you will probably have to evict.

I would suggest consulting with an attorney to get this mess straightened out.

Oh and you don't need a license to sell on e-bay.