What legal right does the heirs have when the executor lets the house go into foreclosure?

What the heirs are entitled depends largely upon the value of the assets and the amount of debt that the decedent left behind. If there were insufficient assets to pay off the debts and the value of the home was less than the pay-off on the mortgage, foreclosure or deed-in-lieu may have been the best option available. There is much more information required to give you a full answer on this site. I recommend you contact a lawyer who practices probate law in your area.

More information is needed to give you a better answer. Having said that, an Executor has a duty to protect and preserve estate assets. If the Exec is a beneficiary also, that is not necessarily a confilct. However, failure to pay bills and then realize a personal benefit from estate assets could be problematic. Was that her residence beforehand? Was she paying rent? Was there a written lease? What were the financial arragements before death? These facts matter. I suggest you contact a good probate attorney to review all of the facts, issues, so you can make an informed decision about your next steps. There are some options in a foreclosure setting, but since it has gotten to that point, some other options may be gone. You should review all of these issues with your attorney.

Assuming that you may have interest in purchasing the home or determining who purchased the house, here are a few ideas. You can go to the court of common pleas docket of the county where the house is located to check the status of the case. Once judgment is obtained, then check the civil division of the county sheriff for foreclosure sales to find the sale date, then jump back to the county docket about a week or two after the sale. That house is not officially sold until a sale is confirmed. If someone purchases the property in a short sale, then you can check the real estate tax records of that county to determine the owner.

I agree with Attorney Arenstein below. There are many issues at play and a lawyer would want to know whether the Executor has not fulfilled the fiduciary duty to the estate. One key point is whether the estate has other assets (liquid assets) sufficient to pay the mortgage and preserve the asset. But I agree that time is of the essence due to the foreclosure.