Bankruptcy – “Sheriff’s Sale”?
Question by : Bankruptcy – “Sheriff’s Sale”?
What is a bankruptcy – “Sheriff’s Sale”. What does it all entail?
Best answer:
Answer by Vicky L
I’ve never heard of a Sheriff’s Sale after a bankruptcy. I HAVE heard of a Sheriff’s Sale after a foreclosure, though. There’s a big difference between a bankruptcy and a foreclosure. You can have one but not the other or you can have both.
A bankruptcy is where a person or business appears in front of a bankruptcy judge and states that they don’t have enough money to pay their bills and that is why their obligations should be either forgiven completely (Chapter 7 Bankruptcy) or they should be given more time to pay their obligations (Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy). There’s much more to it, of course, but that’s just a very simple, crude explaination of bankruptcy.
Forclosure is when a person or business loses their home or business building because they haven’t paid the mortgage for a certain amount of time and/or they are several years behind in paying their property taxes. Once a default on the property has occurred, there are several different steps that the mortgage company or bank can take in order to gain control of it again, and foreclosures can take many, many months before they are done and over with. Again, there is more to it than just this, but a this is a very simple explanation.
A Sheriff’s Sale (which is actually an auction) happens once the foreclosure of the property is finalized. I’ve actually been to several Sheriff’s Sales and they are pretty interesting. A Sheriff’s deputy stands on the steps of the local courthouse and takes bids on the foreclosed property — selling it to the highest bidder. Some properties are sold only for what is left due and owing on the mortgage, some are sold only for what is owed in delinquent property taxes. I went to a Sheriff’s Sale once at a farm here in the area where I live. Not only was the home, barns, and acerage being auctioned off, but so was the farm equipment and livestock. I saw registered Holstein cattle being sold for 10 or 15 cents a pound and huge John Deere combines being sold for $ 2000 or $ 3000 dollars. It just all had to be sold that day and went to the highest bidder — even it it were way below market value. It was the saddest thing I’d ever seen.
To learn more, do some research, but I hope this helps you understand these terms a little better.
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