MOUNT VERNON — The sheriff’s office auctions off foreclosed properties on the county courthouse steps on Friday mornings. In recent years, the number of such properties has skyrocketed.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber said the sheriff’s civil division, which handles foreclosures, processed 486 properties in 2007, and has 92 orders for sales yet to be processed. That’s compared to 390 properties processed in 2006.
Barber said that on average, the division receives between 25 and 30 foreclosure complaints a month. He added that the number of foreclosures processed by his office in the early 1990s, when he became sheriff, was only a fraction of that figure.
“It’s reached epidemic proportions, and not just in Knox County,” Barber said.
Barber said the process between the time a lender files a foreclosure complaint against a borrower, and the time of the actual foreclosure, can be a lengthy one. Once a foreclosure complaint is filed, the borrower has 28 days to respond before the case goes to the Knox County Common Pleas Court. If the sheriff’s office receives an order of sale by the clerk of court, then the civil division moves ahead and adds the property to the list to be sold at auction. He said some properties are pulled from the list the morning before the auction, perhaps when a borrower files for bankruptcy protection or has worked out a deal with the lender.
Barber said the civil division works with local appraisers to determine an appraisal value.
“One thing people need to keep in mind is that the appraisers set the value based on what they can see,” he said, adding that in the vast majority of cases, the sheriff’s office does not have a key to the house. “We aren’t 100 percent certain of what shape the house is in.”
Before the auction, Barber said, the civil division, which is headed by Lt. Mark Rutherford and Secretary Christi Baldwin, has to advertise five times in the News before the sale date. At the auction, the opening bid is two-thirds of the property’s appraised value. The bidder who wins the auction must put down 10 percent of the appraisal value at the time of the sale; the remainder must be paid upon confirmation of the sale and delivery of the deed.
The sheriff advises people who are in the midst of purchasing a foreclosure to not do any construction, remodeling or change the locks until the deed is recorded at the recorder’s office. Barber said it takes a court order to permit anyone to enter a house where the original occupants are still living. He said there are cases where the original homeowners have lost the house but are still there after they have been ordered to vacate.
Barber said the rising number of foreclosures is unfortunate, as many of the people losing their homes can’t help the bad financial situations in which they find themselves.
“The biggest cause for foreclosures in the state and nation is the unfortunate reality of predatory lending,” Barber said. “To me, some of these mortgage companies are nothing more than legal loan sharks.”
He said the lenders in question are almost never local. Barber said the buyer of a foreclosed home and would-be home buyer looking for a mortgage should both beware. Home buyers need to understand the terms of their mortgage and make sure they are getting the best loan product for them, he said, and those who purchase a foreclosed property should do their research.
“It’s a good idea to do research on the property at the county auditor’s office and recorder’s office,” he said.
Barber said the sheriff’s Web site — knoxcountysheriff.com — has lists of properties recently sold at the sheriff’s sales on its civil division section, as well as a list of foreclosed properties to be sold at upcoming auctions. There are also links to the Web sites of the auditor and recorder.
