Strategies for pre-foreclosure on deceased owner?

[Chris H.]

Hello,

I apologize if the title sounds tasteless; but I try to do drive-bys and follow up on houses that look vacant, I'm not an ambulance chaser.  In the process, I found a nice little house with an overgrown yard and a board on the door with a small paper sign stating that no entry is allowed as the house is vacant.

I looked up the owner on the city's site, and then looked up the owner, and found that she was deceased.  The property is still in her name and has not been transferred to anyone.

I then went and pulled recording information from the city.  The owner had taken out a reverse mortgage in 2011.  She passed away in 2014.  In 2015, the bank filed Lis Pendens on the property.  The Lis Pendens is filed against the owner and a list of 4 heirs (plus any unknown heirs). In 2016, the city put some sort of recording on the title for substandard conditions, and I assume that this is what has lead to the boards on the door.

While the bank has filed Lis Pendens, the property clearly has not been foreclosed on as it is still in the original owner's name.  I'd prefer to save the house from foreclosure if something can be arranged.

Normally, I'd contact the owner and offer to short sale.  But...obviously, there's no owner.  I have names for all children from the obituary and the children named in the lis pendens action, but if they haven't inherited the house, will contacting them do anything?

What steps could I take to chase this down?  I assume the bank can't short sell it to me without the owner's approval, correct?  Can an heir do so, and do I need to contact all of the heirs in that case?  Will the heirs have any motivation to authorize the short sale, since they won't make money or take a credit hit regardless of whether it gets foreclosed on or short sold?