Sheriff sale - damages after bid but before closing

[Jane Katsanos]

Hello!

In real need of advice from people who had experience of buying at a sheriff's sale.

I made a winning bid on a property during a foreclosure sheriff's sale in Ohio. As a winning bidder, I made a $5K deposit.

Now almost 2 months later the court called me saying that they have the documents ready for me to make the final payment.

In the meantime, the property has had some damage - the central A/C unit was stolen (ripped off!). The clerk at the court informed me that this is the risk of buying properties at the sheriff's sale - there is no way to secure or insure it, and it is sold AS IS, "grey area"... Sure, but AS IS at the time of the auction? I have the photos of the property before the auction to prove that the unit was there. Now, the $1.5-$2K for the A/C is a relatively big amount of money for the price I paid for the property.

Is there a way I can either back out of it without losing the deposit, or (preferably) have the bank compensate for the damages? It seems that the risk put on the buyer in this situation is unjustifiably high.

Thank you!

Jane