Families deceived by Houston estate sale company fraud
Hervey entrusted an estate sale company to sell her family’s precious belongings - sterling silver, antique glassware, and cherished furniture from her childhood. Two years later, she’s still waiting for payment of more than $2,000, but the greater loss is the irreplaceable memories these items held.
It’s a sickening scenario, families out thousands of dollars and heartbroken after hiring an estate sale company to sell their most prized possessions.
There are 123 different estate sale companies operating in the Houston area and not all are doing the right thing.
KPRC 2 Investigator Bill Spencer now on how you can protect yourself from hiring the wrong company and what you can do to get your money back, if you do get ripped off.
“My mother had some dragon China. It was very old antique China... I have vivid memories of her holding the teacup up,” Kim Hervey recalls, her voice shaking, as she describes treasured family heirlooms she will never see again. “That’s probably the most sentimental thing that’s gone forever.”
Family treasures vanish
Hervey entrusted an estate sale company to sell her family’s precious belongings - sterling silver, antique glassware, and cherished furniture from her childhood. Two years later, she’s still waiting for payment of more than $2,000, but the greater loss is the irreplaceable memories these items held.
Pattern of deception
“It’s made me so angry because I’m not the only person this is happening to,” Hervey says. Her case joins a growing pattern of estate sale fraud that has victimized multiple families over the past three years. Amy Sharp, another victim who lost $5,000 trying to sell her late father’s belongings, shares the emotional toll: “My last thing that I’m supposed to be doing for my dad I can’t do, because this woman has taken our money.”
Estate sale consumer alert
“You have to be extremely careful with estate sale companies. They’re dealing with your family heirlooms, which are very precious to people,” warns Leah Napolliello from the Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston. The risk is heightened in Texas, where estate sale companies operate without licensing or regulation.
Before hiring an estate sale company, the BBB recommends:
- Research the company’s history and background thoroughly
- Check BBB ratings and customer complaints for that company at bbb.org
- Search online for reviews and discussions about the business and owner
- Review the company’s rating from the BBB (The company in Hervey’s case had an F rating)
Legal recourse
For victims of estate sale fraud, commercial-collections-attorney Marc Ellison outlines three paths to recovery:
- File a lawsuit in small claims court
- Apply for a writ of execution in Justice of the Peace court
- Pursue a post-judgment writ of garnishment to freeze the defendant’s bank accounts and force the estate sale company to pay you what you’re owed
You can hear more from Marc Ellison here:
To help you further, we’ve added several legal forms prepared by an attorney that you can fill out and use yourself to try and collect the money that’s owed to you.
Here are your forms.
