I received a notice that I am being sued by the mortgage co. who holds the loan on my deceased uncles property. I only met my uncle once and...

Question

I received a notice that I am being sued by the mortgage co. who holds the loan on my deceased uncles property. I only met my uncle once and was not close at all. He did not have a will and the attorney used a company to search for living relatives. I and my siblings are named in the suit. We researched the property and found that a loan was granted my uncle in 2008 for $130,500 on a property that at the time was worth 80-87 thousand at the most.

1. Can I or my siblings who have no claim to the property be included in a law suit?

2. Was it legal to loan my uncle so much money on a Florida property that even at the time was worth so much less than the loan?

Answer

They are suing you to eliminate any right you may have to the property. If you have no right or do not want to have any right, then you need not appear and defend. Whether the loan was correct or not cannot be determined without additional information. There is nothing inherently wrong with loaning someone more than a property is worth. Not smart for the lender, but that is a decision of the lender.