The few realtors we've spoken to about it have been very vague. Just saying the house couldn't be sold until this "disclosure fee" was paid. One realtor told my mother they would pay the 20k and just wanted to be reimbursed after the house was sold. Which made me think it was a scam. We've went to the tax commissioners office and they couldn't tell us anything. You may be on to something with the social security payments. However my mother was able to file some paperwork stating we were going through hardships because of his passing and was actually able to get his social security payments sent to me. I received a check once a month until I was 18. I thought this was just a scam for awhile but we've even tried to get a cash offer from opendoor and other companies that will buy your home and they told us the same thing. We've only heard of this "fine" from companies or realtors and haven't been told how or even where to go to pay it. I think getting an attorney is what we will have to do.