Review-Journal investigation prompts legislative push to reform probate

State Sen. Melanie Scheible, D-Las Vegas, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the Review-Journal on Wednesday that based on the newspaper’s coverage, she requested a committee bill to work on some probate reforms during the Nevada Legislature’s 2025 session, which starts Feb. 3.

She essentially asked for a placeholder for lawmakers to address the issue, she confirmed. The precise changes that could be examined remain to be seen, but whenever people are “preying on vulnerable Nevadans,” officials need to be vigilant to make sure that outside interests “can’t take advantage of a system that doesn’t have adequate oversight,” she said.

Scheible noted that sometimes an heir may not live in Las Vegas or have legal counsel and then someone else can legally take over the process.

“That is definitely concerning to me,” she said.

The state senator also said that she wants interested parties to know she’s available to talk about probate and that if any groups are working on reforms, she’d be happy to meet with them.

Business of probate

A Review-Journal investigation published in January found that a group of private administrators, real estate agents, lawyers and house flippers cashed in on dead people’s homes throughout Southern Nevada for years, through probate cases that routinely started without family participation.

Private administrator Thomas G. Moore and his probate successor Cynthia “Cyndi” Sauerland routinely landed court authority to sell homes through a process that does not require a judge’s approval of the deal or competitive bidding that could boost the price.

Moore, founder of Estate Administration Services, and Sauerland, an agent with Compass Realty & Management, were two of Clark County’s most prolific private administrators of the past decade.

They frequently sold homes at steep discounts to estimated values, often to the same circle of buyers who resold them within months. Overall, their three biggest probate buyers flipped more than 130 homes for $13.4 million above the combined purchase price, the newspaper’s nine-month investigation found.

Moore, Sauerland and their associate Adam Fenn of Compass Realty — who bought at least two dozen homes through probate from Sauerland and flipped most of them — previously said they were helping solve the problem of abandoned homes.

It’s not uncommon in Las Vegas for empty buildings to get taken over by squatters, fall into disrepair, become a neighborhood nuisance or go up in flames.

“It’s a service to the community,” Sauerland previously said. “It’s not just, ‘Everybody’s running around making money.’ ”

Fenn previously said that many heirs had washed their hands of the situation.

“This is something we feel we’re the solution for,” he said.

Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who was convicted in August of murdering Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, clashed with Compass while in elected office. He then accused the firm in court, without offering any evidence, of framing him for German’s murder.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson previously said that Telles’ claims of a conspiracy were “ludicrous,” adding that the only conspiracy “was between him and his evil mind.” Telles was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Short sales and hefty fees

The probate group tracked by the Review-Journal frequently sold homes through lender-approved transactions known as short sales. In such deals, a property is purchased for less than what’s owed on the seller’s mortgage, typically because the home fell in value.

Moore sold 230-plus homes through probate. But on at least 164 occasions, he reported having nothing to distribute to heirs because he sold the home through a short sale, the Review-Journal found.

He previously said short sales are subject to an “extreme” approval and audit process with lenders and insurers.

People who worked on his cases also made plenty of money. Clear Counsel Law Group, which represented Moore in almost all of his cases tracked by the Review-Journal, earned at least $1.16 million working with him, the newspaper found.

Compass Realty booked almost $890,000 in commissions across nearly 120 of Moore’s cases, though it also paid for more than $135,000 worth of legal fees and other bills. Fenn’s former brokerage, Haines & Krieger Realty, earned more than $600,000 in commissions across nearly 100 of Moore’s cases.

Moore’s cases also generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for services with vague descriptions in court records that some Southern Nevada probate lawyers, and a few real estate agents with short-sale experience, had never heard of, the Review-Journal found.

Sauerland sold more than 100 homes through probate court, the newspaper found. She previously said that 65 percent of her sales had equity for the estate.

Fast sales

Probate cases involve transferring ownership of a dead person’s property through court and settling their debts. Under Nevada law, family members have top priority to manage the case, but last on the 10-deep list in state law is anyone “legally qualified” for the task.

It’s a low bar, as any adult in Nevada can run a probate case if the person is not a felon. Would-be administrators also could be blocked over a conflict of interest, “drunkenness” or “lack of integrity,” state law says.

The provision allowing almost anyone to manage a case “can be kind of scary when you think about it,” but it can also be helpful because properties in Southern Nevada can languish, said Las Vegas lawyer Daniel Kiefer, who handles trust and estate litigation.

State law also allows for less oversight of home sales through probate. Under the “independent administration” option Nevada lawmakers adopted in 2011, a house can be sold without a judge’s approval or competitive bidding through court, probate attorneys have said.

Moore obtained court authority for independent administration in at least 340 cases among 345 requests tracked by the Review-Journal. Sauerland secured this authority at least 125 times among 153 requests, court records show.

Independent administration can be an effective tool that lets heirs sell their dead relative’s property quickly, but by design it offers less scrutiny.

Kiefer’s law partner Kennedy “Kenny” Lee, a probate attorney, said Clark County Probate Commissioner James Fontano is already taking good steps, often not allowing independent administration for parties who might be viewed as random outsiders.

Southern Nevada probate lawyer Elyse Tyrell said she doesn’t see the benefit to independent administration. Judicial oversight and a bidding process not only provide transparency but also help maximize money for the estate, she said.

As Tyrell explained, it’s great if investors want to buy properties through probate, but the estate should be able to land the best offer.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Segall is a reporter on the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing on reporting that holds leaders, businesses and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.