Am I responsible for disposing of the previous owner's belongings left in a property I bought through receivership?

This depends significantly on what your specific purchase agreement says, so it is worth clarifying before you close rather than assuming a default answer. Because a receivership sale is conducted by a court-appointed receiver rather than the actual former owner, responsibility for anything left behind - furniture, personal items, or other belongings - is not automatically settled the way it might be addressed informally between a cooperative seller and buyer in an ordinary transaction.

Simply discarding someone else's belongings without following the proper process can create legal exposure, even where the former owner is in significant financial distress, so this is not a matter to handle casually if it comes up. Some receivership agreements deal with this issue directly, assigning responsibility to the receiver or the estate before closing; others leave it for the buyer to sort out, which can mean added cost and some legal uncertainty about the right steps.

Raise this specifically before you close, and if the agreement is silent on it, get legal advice about the proper process rather than simply clearing the property out yourself.