Fulton County Foreclosure Process
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
I have a general understanding of the foreclosure process in Fulton County but, never having done it before, I have a few basic questions:
1) I know what's being auctioned and the date - but how do I find out the time of a specific property's auction?
2) I know the property has a principal balance from the foreclosure notice that's been placed, but there's also unspecified interest and other expenses due. Will that exact total amount be published anywhere? How does the opening bid on the property relate to the total balance due? (are they the same??)
3) I know I have to bring a handful of cashier's checks in various denominations with me, but who are the checks made Payable to? I assume I can't get a blank cashier's check.
4) Do I need to register before the auction? When/Where? What do I need to have when I go do that?
Thanks in advance!
Hey Mike,
It's been a couple of years since I attended a foreclosure auction in Fulton but I'll tell you what I know based on my experience.
1. I'm assuming that you have read the foreclosure list that has been published in the legal notices sections of Fulton County Daily Report once a week for four (4) weeks prior to the sale of the properties.
Assuming that, once you're at the auction, there is (or were) two separate areas for properties being auctioned off by either Auction.com or Fulton county proper.
The Auction.com area had employees with brightly colored matching uniforms along with a branded pop-up tent and tables for paperwork. You provided current valid government issued ID up front (Drivers license, Passport) and they provided a printed list of properties being sold along with a paddle board with your bidder number.
They had one auctioneer and 4 - 10 people assisting their side of the auction. The assistants would answer any questions and take bids as the auction progressed. The auctioneer would loudly announce the address of the property being auctioned (along with the associated required legal jargon) and then they would write the address on a large dry erase board in order to avoid confusion. They would go down the list, auctioning off properties until the list was complete. All very straight forward. All of this carried out to the right of the courthouse steps in a small area away from the other Fulton sales. All very neat and tidy.
Fulton county sales were another story.
Fulton had 4 - 6 random auctioneers selling multiple properties at different locations. Each auctioneer dressed differently. Some were business casual. Some were in street clothes - Jeans and T-shirts. They were working independently and spoke as loudly or as softly as they wanted.
Each auctioneer had their own list of different properties. They will simply step forward and announce the address of the property being auctioned along with the legal jargon and then start the bidding at the minimum opening amount. They would take bids until the property sold to the highest bidder or was passed over.
There were probably a hundred or so people in the crowd at any given time.
2/10th of them were actually bidding on properties. Others were there to gather info or to just occupy space. Who knows?
Bidders would push in close to one auctioneer in order to hear which property was being auctioned by them and then hurry off to the next cluster of bidders in order to figure out which property was being sold by the next auctioneer.
All very confusing. All very aggravating.
Fulton county did offer a smartphone App which helped you keep up with what was being auctioned off - in real time. I've since deleted this App but it was invaluable to navigating who was selling which properties
and at what time. You simply opened the App just before the auction started and it gave you an active list of which properties were actively being sold and which ones were coming up next. It was up to you to figure out which auctioneer was going to sell which property but it made a huge difference in managing the long list of possibles.
2. In my experience the minimum opening bid on auction day is close to the same amount that is published in the Daily Report as the amount that is delinquent. It may be different now. Hopefully someone else on here will chime in with current info.
3. Cashiers checks should be made payable to yourself. A cashiers check drafted from the account of John Doe should be made payable to John Doe. After you win the bid, you sign (endorse) the checks so the banks can deposit them. You normally give these signed checks to the auctioneer, or their staff, after they have finished auctioning off all of the properties on their lists. They will ask you who you want the property to be titled to.... either a company or yourself & then ask for your identification (drivers license, passport). You should then be given a receipt or a bill of sale.
My best advice would be that you go to the next sale and ask around to see how they're handling the volume. It would surprise me if they've changed their approach to managing the chaos. When I was getting started I went to a couple of auctions just to survey the scene and to ask questions..... particularly to the auctioneers and other buyers. Some were friendly and willing to answer my questions. Others weren't.
You're on a fact finding mission so it's in your best interest to ask as many questions to as many people as you can.
Hope this helps.
Robert
Thank's Robert - this is very helpful.
I am going to bid on some specific properties and they'll be the non-Auction.com group, but all with the same auctioneer so I won't have to be running all over fortunately.
I have seen the notices posted for 4 weeks, but have yet to find a final list of what will be auctioned on Tuesday with auction times (they could choose to pull their auction at the list minute, of course.) I guess I need to contact the attorney handling them. Can't find any App like you mentioned (other than auction.com) - might be discontinued?
Thanks