84 year old Neighbors in very bad health scammed out of life savings 2 yrs ago
A/C died last year and A/C company charged them $13000 for replacement
Neighbor couldn't pay and was sued
Judge Hawthorne put a lien on home and ordered the home sold in sheriff's sale to satisfy the lien.
The A/C company bought the home in sheriff's sale.
Neighbors have to vacate by July 15

Does this seem kosher to you?

Unfortunately it's likely everything you laid out is legal.

To quote a line from my favorite Night Gallery tv series ep "Camera Obscura," what is legal is not always just. Oddly a similar situation was happening to an old man in that episode.

I hope things somehow work out for the poor guy.

As for the AC, I'm hearing $20,000 is the going rate to replace a basic unit in a single family dwelling. But I really have no idea.

We paid $52,000 for 4 units about 2 years ago... had to refinance one of our duplexes..

As to the legality... if you cant afford something, don't buy it... Yes, I know the guy was old and probably needed a/c, but thats not the issue...

He could always see if KBTX could do a story... Any idea who the AC company is?

I know who the A/C company is but don't want to disclose on public forum. Don't know all the details of what went down.

studioone said:

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We paid $52,000 for 4 units about 2 years ago... had to refinance one of our duplexes..

As to the legality... if you cant afford something, don't buy it... Yes, I know the guy was old and probably needed a/c, but thats not the issue...

He could always see if KBTX could do a story... Any idea who the AC company is?

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Shame on them for wanting to get their money back. The Neighbor gets the equity it's not like the AC company gets the house.

MadDog73 said:

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I know who the A/C company is but don't want to disclose on public forum. Don't know all the details of what went down.

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It's public information if they won the auction. Everyone who attended knows.

Do you have a link I can follow to find the sales price?

Why didn't the neighbor sell the house before it went to auction ?

Are there no children in the picture ?

Don't have the answers.

Malek no doubt

Not Malek.

Something seems off here. You can't lose your home over a $13000 debt. Now a string of unpaid tax bill? That will get it sold on the steps. Heck, for $13k if you can't pay it declare bankruptcy.

Mathguy64 said:

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Something seems off here. You can't lose your home over a $1300 debt. Now a string of unpaid tax bill? That will get it sold on the steps. Heck, for $13k if you can't pay it declare bankruptcy.

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Sounds like a mechanics lien and then forced sale.

Rexter said:

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Mathguy64 said:

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Something seems off here. You can't lose your home over a $1300 debt. Now a string of unpaid tax bill? That will get it sold on the steps. Heck, for $13k if you can't pay it declare bankruptcy.

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Sounds like a mechanics lien and then forced sale.

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I understand putting a lien on the house but how can you force the sale of a 400K home for 13K debt even an HOA can't do that, the lien just stays till the owner sells the property then all liens are paid.

If this was his homestead I don't see how this happened there are so many legal protections with it

happyinBCS said:

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I understand putting a lien on the house but how can you force the sale of a 400K home for 13K debt even an HOA can't do that, the lien just stays till the owner sells the property then all liens are paid.

If this was his homestead I don't see how this happened there are so many legal protections with it

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An HOA can also force the sale for unpaid dues. Homestead only protects you from some, but not all- mostly creditors, but not a mechanics lien.

With a mechanics lien, I believe they have a year to sue before it becomes invalid. Not sure if there are limits on amounts, and I'm sure there are hoops to jump through. But, looking at the timeline info given by the OP, sounds like that's exactly what happened.

It's also completely possible that the neighbor agreed to the sale. At 85, in poor health, maybe he felt it was the best way to get out from under that burden. Selling probably would have cost more in the long run, especially with extensive repairs or major issues and the lien still would have needed to be paid off. Depending on their financial situation (which sounds bad), it just may not have been possible.

OP I feel for your neighbor and I would like to hope a local company didn't prey on them. But I don't think they did anything illegal. Possibly shady and unethical, but we only know a little bit of the story. What a sad situation.

Take a few minutes to educate those in your life about common scams, warning signs, and ways to safeguard their finances and personal information. A simple conversation could be the difference between this story and a non-event.

Maybe they did try.

trouble said:

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This feels like it's missing a whole lotta details.

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100%

This isn't adding up even with a congressman's math

Did it just sell this month? Previously?