[donnaholt59]

In 2009 my husband passed away. At the time we had been separated for a while but not divorced and were working on our problems. The home that we had lived in for 15 years was in his name only so I hired a probate attorney so that the house could be switched over to me. That is when I found out that he was behind on the mortgage and was in the process of filing for bankruptcy. My attorney told me that he had stopped the foreclosure action and that it would take about a year for the estate to be settled. I remained in contact with attorney and was told everything was going good just taking a little longer than expected. In November of 2010 I received a paper in the mail informing me that I had a certified letter from the sheriffs office at the post office, later that day before I had the chance to go pick up the letter the sheriff came to my house and delivered a totally unrelated summons (I was being sued by the hospital) I asked if that was what the certified letter was about and he said yes so I didn't bother picking it up. Two days later the same sheriff brought and exact copy of the same summons, we both thought it a little strange but thought nothing more of it. Then on December 16th someone showed up at my house and said "Hi were the new owners, we bought the house on sheriff sale today". I had know idea what was going on so I immediately went to see my attorney. I told him the names of the people that had bought it and he told me not to worry because he was really close friends with them and he would get it sorted out. A few days later my attorney and the people that bought the house showed up (they even rode together) and told me that I had 5 days to get out or I could pay them $450 and stay for another two weeks, I was devastated and didn't think this could be legal but my attorney said I had to go so two days before Christmas my family and I became homeless. In March of 2011 the estate was settled and I got a little over $10,000 from the excess proceeds of the sale of the house. I later found out that the certified letter at the post office was to inform of the sheriff sale of the house because my attorney did not work to stop the foreclosure action as he said he did, he only delayed it long enough for his "close" friends (who own an llc company that buys and flips houses) could buy it. Do I have a lawsuit against the attorney? As a side note the prosecutor in my county is one of several involved in a civil suit about forfeiture moneys.

{Mod note: this is a different though related question from the OP's other thread and should be kept separate-<>}

[AK lawyer]

... Do I have a lawsuit against the attorney? As a side note the prosecutor in my county is one of several involved in a civil suit about forfeiture moneys.

Do you have to ask? Of course you do. If, as you suggest, he failed to act because he is a close friend of the owner of the company which was involved in buying your home, you could have him disciplined, perhaps disbarred, and maybe even prosecuted.

But there are some issues which may constitute contributory negligence on your part, or otherwise impair your case:

Why did you neglect to go to the post office and get the certified mail? Also, if the Sheriff's office served you with process and also was responsible for the "sheriff's sale", they should have known better than to tell you falsely that what they were serving you for was the same matter as the certified mailing. And if the deputy who served you didn't know what his office was up to, how would he have known it wasn't the same matter?

As a matter of fact, it would be unlikely that they would send you process by certified mail and serve you by personal service at the same time.

I question the procedure for notification of the sheriff's sale. If you failed to pick up the certified mailing, they should have had to give you some other sort of notice. Since they did not, I would think the sale wias defective and could be set aside.

Finally, if the attorney had entered an appearance in your behalf in the probate case, the notice of the sheriff's sale should, I would think, also been sent to your attorney.

... As a side note the prosecutor in my county is one of several involved in a civil suit about forfeiture moneys.

This prosecutor practices law, and takes civil suits, on the side? That's peculiar. Have you asked him about your case?

What state are you in, by the way?

[Fr_Chuck]

1. you have a good case but will need an attorney

2. he needs to be reported to the state bar association.

3. The police need to be informed, since there are criminal actions done also