The IRS apparently holds a number of these auctions as they have a web site listing their auctions: http://www.treasury.gov/auctions/irs/index.html
Under the authority in Internal Revenue Code section 6331, the property described below has been seized for nonpayment of internal revenue taxes due from Taxpayer. The property will be sold at public auction as provided by Internal Revenue Code section 6335 and related regulations.“Something for Mom, something for Dad, all good - nothing bad!”
Contents of a Household brimming with highend bargains – over 100 lots including a Steinway Baby Grand Piano, John Deere 6400 Tractor, Art, Antiques, Custom Pool Table, Collectible commerative Colt Pistols, ATV, Electronic equipment and much, much more. The Northwest´s biggest little yard sale! See Link below for complete Inventory List. http://www.treasury.gov/auctions/irs/docs/wmhginv5444inv.pdf
While the auction did have a tractor (John Deere 640 tractor w/bucket) and tractor attachments: - Worksaver grader attachment for tractor,
- John Deere 613 mower attachment,
- Kelley Backhoe B60C attachment,
- John Deere post hole auger attachment,
The IRS runs auctions differently than any other auction I have attended. Once the homeowner did not appear to pay off his IRS tax bill, the auction started. First, the auction was on entire contents. The highest bid was almost $48,000. Then the auction started on the 109 lots. If the total bids on the 109 lots did not exceed the overall bid, the overall bidder would get everything, and everyone who won the bids on the lots would be left with nothing. If the total bids of all the lots exceeded the overall bid, then each bidder would get what the bid on.
Like I said, different than any auction I ever attended.
The auctioneer went through the first 13 lots, then jumped to the tractor which was lot number 85. After that he went to lot number 80, which was a Steinway baby grand piano, with integrated piano disk computer system.
The tractor sold for $26,750. The piano sold for $8,800 or $8,900 - I forgot which.
With over $36,000 towards the goal of exceeding the almost $48,000 overall bid, the auctioneer went back to lot 14 and continued on from there. I think he went to the big ticket items to see what they would sell for so as not to waste everyone's time if it was obvious the overall bid would not be exceeded.
The house and property were not auctioned and instead were listed with a realtor, who was around the property and road placing large signs listing their real estate company. The house and 40.81 acres is listed at $995,000.
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| The house |
The number of the lot being auctioned was in the fifties when the clerk announced that we had exceeded the overall bid and therefore the winners of the individual lots would get to keep what they bid on. I didn't keep track of the winning bids, but I estimate the auction overall took in around $70,000. Combine that with list price (if they get that) of the property minus the real estate commission, etc., and the government would barely get back $1,000,000 of the $1,691, 018 it is owed.
The lots were a mishmash of stuff. For example,
Contents of hallway, including, but not limited to: skis, boots, jackets and rollerblades, two air mattresses, stud finder and craft kit.
Contents of Kitchen cabinets, including, but not limited to: spices and spice rack, assorted dishware and glassware, cook books, pots and pans; cleaning supplies.
It appeared the IRS looked for items of value and made them an individual lot. I.e. Howard Miller curio grandfather clock, Mountain man picture, Bev Doolittle painting, "Woodland Encounter", approximately seven assorted silver belt buckles plus two wrist watches, and rack with seven cowboy hats.
Many lots were the contents of a room as they were at the time the property was seized. I think the IRS didn't group similar stuff together because it was extra work, and if the taxpayer came up with the money owed, he could complain about the house being turned upside down. I think the IRS took out food items that could spoil, but otherwise left things alone. Walking through the house I saw toothbrushes and toothpaste scattered on the bathroom counters like someone was living there. It was an odd feeling checking out items being auctioned.
Because not everyone could fit in the house, the auction was conducted in the driveway outside the house. The lot number was mentioned and the description read, then the bidding began. So you really needed to have check out the lots before hand as you didn't have the stuff in front of you. They did open the garage doors when auctioning the garage's contents, but didn't walk down to the barn where the tractor, attachments, and other items were located.
There was room down at the barn for the people to see what was being auctioned. This bit the auctioneer as there was confusion as to how many saddles there were and where they were located. Four saddles were listed but apparently one was in a container and not everybody had seen it. The lot description of the saddles were "Saddle". When auctioning the auctioneer tried to differentiate the child saddle from the riding saddle from the two show saddles. Then a little after the saddles were auctioned, someone asked about the tack on the wall near the saddles and the auctioneer said that went with one of the saddles, to the pleasure of the person who got that saddle. A few minutes later the winning bidder to one of the other saddles complained that he thought an item on the tack wall went with the show saddle he paid $500 for. So the auctioneer had to stop and straighten it out. He had to change who got what, and that is not a good thing. If he had walked over to the barn to auction the stuff he could have avoided the mix up.
In the photos, the auctioneer was the older man in the IRS blue shirt and jeans. According to the IRS web site he is Doug McDonald and is a Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service and is from Camarillo, CA. He seemed personable enough, but I was not impressed with his work.
I hesitate calling him an auctioneer: he was the person running the auction. When speaking he was like you or me asking for bids. No rhythm to his speech. Often another IRS person or audience member would call his attention to a bidder as he often would overlook a new bidder. Also he didn't know the value of what he was selling. He would start low and often would go up in $5 or $10 increments. You know an auctioneer is bad when the people bidding jump their bid by way more than what the auctioneer was asking. The auctioneer was asking for an increment of $10 to $60 and the bidder would bid $100. The other bidder would then bid $110 and the next bidder would bid $150. This happened often. The $5 and $10 increments were taking too long when the lot had a few hundred dollars to go to reach the winning bid.
Like the IRS did when listing the property with a local realtor, they would have been better off hiring a local auctioneer to conduct the auction. I think the IRS would have gotten more money for what they auctioned off.
Another waste of money were all the IRS Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialists roaming around doing nothing. I think there were three of them walking around wearing earpieces. Earpieces?! Who do they think they are? The Secret Service?!
I also saw a Flathead County deputy sheriff with his patrol car at the property entrance. He was wearing a small video camera attached to the side of his shaved head along with a bulletproof vest and the usual law enforcement accoutrements.. When entering the property I joked saying this was a first at an auction for me, a deputy sheriff, and asked if they were expecting trouble. He assured me that I had nothing to worry about.
The audience at this auction were mainly construction contractors bidding mainly on the tools, and rich people. I saw a few auction aficionados that I had seen at the previous night's auction. By no means a rough crowd. So what was up with all the security? A government overreaction? Or a lack of knowledge of the local area? I see it as a waste of taxpayer money.
Also out of the ordinary from a typical auction was the older Texan seen in the middle of the previous photo. He bought a number of things, and spent a good amount. Also there were two late teen/early 20s girls from Utah who were sisters. They are standing to the right of the Texan in the photo. I know they were from Utah because when they bid on the tractor and piano the auctioneer asked if they were from Utah. Apparently they drove up from Utah for the auction and their dad had called the auctioneer the night before asking him to keep an eye out for his daughters to make sure they arrived safely.
The sisters giggled a lot and bid on a variety of things. They looked like they were having too much fun and sometimes I wondered if they had a strategy or were caught up in having fun. They must have had limits as they dropped out of bidding on the tractor somewhere around $20,000, and I don't think they were the winning bidder of the piano, though they were among the last two bidders. They got some items, but I think it was a minority of what they bid on. The Texan usually got what he bid on. In addition to the tractor and piano the sisters bid on two fencing foils with face guards and two hockey masks, and the two racks of DVD movies.
Also there was a skinny middle aged woman dressed and looking younger than her years. She wore jeans that were so tight I was amazed she could sit cross legged at times while waiting. She gave the appearance she had come on a motorcycle, though I never saw one. She also appeared to be with a slightly overweight shlumpy man. Her boyfriend? Her son? The woman bid on a 40' drafting table with chair and lost. She did successfully bid on the Bev Doolittle painting, "Woodland Encounter". From how she bid as she sat cross legged on the concrete driveway, it was clear she was determined to get the painting. Her opening bid was $50 and after a lot of bidding in small increments, she got the print for $275 and was clearly happy.
The auction started at 10:30 am and was over at 1:15 pm. While I didn't plan to get anything, and never even got a bidding number, there was enough "entertainment" to keep me occupied during the auction - though I was tempted to leave a few times when things go slow and boring. Part of why I hung around was that I wanted to give John a chance to return home after getting his corral panels from the previous night's auction. John is the person who gave me the two harrow sections.
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