The answer is yes. We recently handled the administration of an estate that contained a house where a murder had occurred. The payments on the mortgage on the property were in arrears, and the bank holding the mortgage had already filed a mortgage foreclosure action in the Licking County Common Pleas Court. We then filed a Complaint for Land Sale in the Probate Court specifically alleging that it was necessary to do so in order to pay all of the debts of the decedent. The action was brought pursuant to R.C. 2127.02 that provides in relevant part:
The Defendant was backing his truck from his driveway onto a public highway at the time of the accident. At the same time, Plaintiff was lawfully operating a motorcycle along the public highway. The two vehicles collided and Plaintiff was seriously injured. Plaintiff alleged that Defendant’s vision was obscured by vegetation on Defendant’s property that prevented him from seeing Plaintiff on his motorcycle. Defendant asked his homeowner’s insurance carrier to provide him with a defense and coverage. The homeowner’s insurance company refused and asked the Trial Court to deny coverage and a defense to the Defendant. (By the way, there was a motor vehicle liability policy available to the Defendant.)
