Problem
A fiduciary was appointed by the court of an estate which owned a 14-unit apartment building. Two siblings were fighting over ownership. One of the siblings, “Sibling A” was living in and managing the apartment building. The fiduciary was appointed to properly manage the apartment building and to effectuate an arm’s length public sale because “Sibling B” was not maintaining the building, not renting the apartments and renting the apartments at a below market rent to purposely depress the value of the apartment building. Sibling A was doing this so he could purchase the apartment building from Sibling B at substantially below market price.
How did I shield the fiduciary from liability?
The Fiduciary contacted me to discuss options to sell the apartment building. I provided the Fiduciary with two options to market and sell the apartment building. Option One- Brokerage, Option Two – Worldbid Auction. The Fiduciary chose option two because they felt the urgency an auction will create, the date certainty the auction will create, and the clear transparent terms of sale will allow both siblings to bid as well as the public. The auction will allow both siblings to bid and see that neither party was receiving an unjust benefit.
Solution
Braun’s Worldbid auction platform generated over a 6 week period nearly 300 potential buyers who toured the apartment building. The auction was conducted Live telephonically for bidders to participate from around the world. The starting bid established by the Fiduciary’s probate referee appraisal of $2.1 million. The auction created a bidding frenzy, neither sibling bid and the sale price to a public buyer was $3,050,000 a nearly 50% increase over the appraised value. The apartment building was sold at such an astronomical price, no overbidder showed up in court to bid.
Results: Fiduciary was fully protected by using our Worldbid auction platform to mitigate any form of liability resulting in unknown property issues and conditions and mitigating any chance the siblings would sue them.
Our team of experts are credentialed from the most prestigious organizations in the world and boast these designations; CFA, FRICS, MAI, ASA, CPA, CVA, CCIM, CGREA and are state licensed, bonded and insured.
IRS defense experience, expert witness experience in state and federal court cases.
Contact Todd Wohl, Partner 866 568 6638 Todd@Braunco.com
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