Brother has POA for mom and taken all money, put mortgage on house that was paid off, will not answer calls. Advice?

Your idea might be a good idea.. however.. when you say you want to retain an attorney, be careful. Unless your mum has a large estate that you will inherit a good portion of, why would you pay a lawyer TONS of YOUR money when your brother seems to have gone through all your mother's assets. I would try and bring your mother to live with you so you know she is taken care of and forget the rest. It sounds like a mess that you shouldn't invest your money in, but obviously you have to make the decision that is best for you. Good Luck!

My goodness I'd want him arrested for this kind of theft and misuse of funds. I would speak to an attorney ASAP and find out if there is any way he can be criminally charged and his assets taken to repay your mother.

If your brother owns the house without a living trust then I believe you'll be paying the taxes for your brother not your Mom.. Definitely see that Atty.. Good luck..

Jeanne is right.

Find out what mom's state has as the redemption period for tax sale property.

This will be essential to know if you want to try to keep the property. Most county tax assessors have all parcel information on line. So go to the county tax assessor site to see if they do. Information on the property will be by it's parcel number. The parcel # is usually the key to everything on the property. It will be in the tax sale info that was published in the newspaper. Once you have the parcel number, you can then get any documents done & filed on the property. Most counties have the past 10 years available at very low cost (a few $'s) and as a download. For legal older, they research and mail to you but still at minimal cost.
You need to find out if the back taxes are at the point of being fully redeemable.
In my area it is 3 full years and the first year tax sale holder can redeem it. But most people that do tax sales, DO NOT WANT THE PROPERTY, they want the 18% - 25% interest that it pays. So you just pay off the taxes & interest and it still remains mom's property. If you can't pay off all the taxes & fees, pay off the # of years you need to keep the property from being redeemable. Most tax assessors will not take a personal check, so it;s a cashier;s check. Keep copies of everything you pay for and have the receipt clearly read that you (your name) paid for the taxes.

If the holder of the tax sale certificate has actually filed to become the owner, they would have had to a transfer of ownership filed at the courthouse (& pay off all the other years taxes & fees outstanding) and then to do a "quiet title" action. For a quiet title, there would have been a notice in the paper on this as there is a legal hearing for quieting a title. If that did happen, it will be another issue to prove in your favor to show that brother is not capable to be POA.

But really most tax sale buyers do NOT want the property, they want the interest on their investment - which is the taxes and fees they paid at the tax sale.

Sounds to me you have made good plans.