The property in Gothenburg went up for sale in May because the resident had not paid his bills. The bailiff offered the flat in the state in which it was found, full of rubbish and reeking, according to Swedish media.
Due to the chaos the body of the former owner was discovered only weeks after the sale in June. The occupant, a man in his eighties, had reportedly been dead for at least two years, according to police. His allegedly mummified remains were partly hidden under a bed.
The man’s daughter says she had been estranged from her father for years. She is baffled that the flat was not properly searched and that the bailiff did not contact relatives to find out where the former occupant had gone. She also wants his personal belongings back.
A spokesperson for the government curator who sold the flat said that for privacy reasons, old residents’ belongings were not extensively gone through and the body was missed as a result. Approaching relatives is not part of the protocol, according to her.
The spokesperson further adds that it is more common in foreclosure sales that the old owner is found dead.
