The Nuts and bolts of Government Auctions

At government auctions you can acquire quality or remarkable merchandise at an outstanding buy.

Government auctions are offered both online and around various parts of the country where they sell surplus goods and seized and forfeited property.

What is seized property?

Most states have "seizure laws" in place. Seizure laws permit law enforcement agencies to seize property that was used to commit a offense, such as a vehicle used to transport stolen goods or illegal drugs, as well as anything that was bought with cash acquired from the commission of a crime.

If a drug lord uses the money he acquires from the commission of a crime to buy a car, truck, boat, even a house, the property comes under the "seizure law" and will be confiscated and it sells at auction to the top bidder. This can include everything from aircraft and aircraft parts, boats, cars, jewelry, computers, laptops, cameras and camera equipment, office equipment and supplies, campers, trailers, and trucks.

What is surplus merchandise?

Surplus merchandise is property that is no longer used by the government, either through obsolescence or overstocking. You will also find unclaimed property offered in government auctions.

What is unclaimed property?

One source of unclaimed property is merchandise that makes its way into the list of unclaimed possessions from people who turn in found goods in the hopes that the police can find the real. Another source of unclaimed property is stolen property found in the possession of thieves that the athorities have no way to identify the real owners. After trying unsuccessfully to return the stolen merchandise to the true owners, any unclaimed property goes into a government auction.

What is Forfeited property?

Forfeited property includes houses that had a federally guaranteed mortgage that the title-holder defaulted on. When the home is foreclosed on, the house is sold at auction.

With the government, you must realize that they don't have just one big sale. Each agency has the auction by itself or in partnership with other agencies.

The U.S. Marshals Service operates it's own auctions for the Department of Justice, the FBI, the DEA, the INS and the ATF. This means that any property seized by any of these bureaus is auctioned by the U.S. Marshals Service. The U.S. Treasury handles auctions for itself and the IRS. Border Patrol and Customs operate their own auctions, and so on.

Each bureau has their own rules that the purchaser has to be aware of. For example, the original owner of an IRS auctioned estate can reclaim the home within a specified period of time. The title-holder has to pay the bid price plus the interest and the buyer can't do anything about it.

The rules and procedures are given for each of the online and in-person auctions with instructions on where merchandise can be looked at previous to the government auctions.

Article Source: Home | Internet | Auctions

Get resources for government auctions at www.governmentauctionsources.com or read more forfeited property articles

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