My Estate Sale Nightmare, and How to Avoid Your Own

“Bonding protects against theft, while insurance protects against property damage and any personal injury matters,” he says. “Since the majority of states don’t regulate estate sale companies, you need to do your own verification homework.”

We hadn’t asked Sarah if her company was insured, but fortunately it was. We ended up having to sue her, and her insurance company settled out of court.

Get a contract

Another embarrassing thing to admit: We didn’t ask for a written contract. We had a verbal agreement that Sarah would retain 40 percent of the proceeds from the sale, advertise on two major estate sale websites and dispose of all leftover merchandise and trash. And she did.

Going without a contract, however, is unusual and risky. According to the most recent industry report from EstateSales.net, 95 percent of estate sale companies require one. Common details include commission structure, payment terms, timelines, services and potential fees.

Contracts also protect you from surprises. “Some companies have hidden fees they only share after a sale, like a setup and staging fee and a clean-out fee,” says Hilary Murdock, owner of Coastal Estate Sales, an estate liquidation company in San Diego.  

The only benefit to us not having one is that we didn’t sign away our right to sue. “Many take advantage of your lack of knowledge around the terms in their contracts, which often have broad ‘hold harmless clauses’ that shift the liability right onto you, even if they were the ones who were negligent,” says Susolik.

Talk to more than one company

EstateSales.net recommends interviewing more than two companies. We researched Sarah online. She had good reviews, so we didn’t interview anyone else. Comparing notes would have helped us better understand industry standards — like that missing contract.

“If you speak with an estate sale company and you don’t get warm and fuzzy feelings, interview another one,” says Murdock. “This company is going to be going through your family’s belongings. You have to completely trust them.”

You can also get a feel for how a company runs its business by visiting their other sales or checking out their listings on sites such as EstateSales.net, EstateSales.org, NextDoor and Facebook.

Take photos

Don’t forget to document the condition of your home, says Susolik. “From what I’ve seen over the years in my cases, clients fare better when they document everything.”

We were getting the home ready to sell and had taken photos of the rooms. This ended up being our saving grace, as we could prove what our home looked like before the sale.

Understand the process

Once you choose a company, provide them with full access to your home with a key or codes to a garage or security system. Then let them do their job.

The process can be arduous to property owners, says Murdock. “It’s likely they are already experiencing a traumatic event,” she says. “Stay checked in just long enough to make the estate sale company selection, and then you can check out. If you put the time into the company selection, you can rest easier the next few weeks.”

In the end, we were made whole on the damages, and the items that wound up in our parents’ house probably provided interesting neighborhood gossip. But it did cost us time and frustration. I wouldn’t recommend allowing an additional estate into your home, because that’s where things went wrong for us. At the very least, ask for documentation of what’s going to be delivered.

Estate sales usually go off without a hitch, adds Susolik. “There is always that risk of not vetting companies out properly first and choosing one that is uninsured, with a poorly worded contract,” he says. “The steps you take in the beginning to verify all of these metrics will save you down the road, allowing you to have legal recourse in the end should you need it, though hopefully you won’t.”

AARP essays share a point of view in the author’s voice, drawn from expertise or experience, and do not necessarily reflect the views of AARP.​​​