Is it legal for for a house to be sold at auction for the same amount that someone has a bid through a realtor prior to the auction?
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Is it legal for for a house to be sold at auction for the same amount that someone has a bid through a realtor prior to the auction?
My daughter and her future husband put a bid on a house through a realtor for $40000 and a week later the house sold at auction for the same amount. Is this legal?
Asked on March 25, 2009 under Criminal Law, Indiana
Answers:
R.C., Member, Connecticut Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
From what you’ve said, it is legal. Generally, a house, or any possession, can be sold to whomever the owner wants, unless there is some kind of unlawful discrimination involved. Assuming that this is foreclosed property, ownership goes, temporarily, to the state or federal government, or to the bank that holds the mortgage. A county Sheriff is responsible for the auction, and usually it is required that the property be sold at auction. Auctions are well publicized by newspaper ads, in several newspapers, starting at least thirty days before the auction.
Indiana law requires that the selling price be at least a certain amount, to cover costs of whoever took over the property. Since your price and the selling amount at auction were the same amount, the sheriff did nothing wrong.
But wait. Did you give the realtor a deposit? Did the realtor make the bid known to Sheriff? If your presence at the auction was required, did the realtor tell you that? If the realtor didn’t, you may have an action against him or her.
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