Rule 321 - Auditors And Auditors' Reports(a) Auditors shall be appointed by the Court sua sponte or upon petition.(b) Auditors' hearings shall be held at the Courthouse except with leave of court and testimony shall be taken by a court stenographer or by a stenographer agreed upon by the parties.(c) Auditors shall give all parties notice of the time and place of hearings before them and give public notice by advertisement once per week for two successive weeks in the Mercer County Law Journal and in one daily newspaper of general circulation of this county, stating that all persons must prove their claims or they will be disallowed. Auditors shall obtain from the assignors or debtors, a list of their creditors, and if the proceeds of the sale of real estate are to be distributed, identify all liens and encumbrances thereon and award distribution after determining any objections thereto. (d) Argument before the court shall be confined to the exceptions filed with the auditor. The court may take additional testimony on exceptions if justice requires.(e) When facts are controverted before the auditor, he/she shall report the proven facts in a concise form and shall state concisely the questions of law raised before rendering decisions thereon, with the reasons therefore. When distribution is made a schedule of the liens on the funds, paid and unpaid, shall be made and presented with the report showing the disposition made. All testimony shall be returned separately and filed with the report.(f) Upon a claim of misconduct or unreasonable delay on the part of any auditor, the court may either vacate the appointment or issue a rule to show cause why the auditor should not proceed forthwith in the duties of appointment.Adopted July 19, 2004, effective 30 days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.