A vacant 92-year-old bungalow in Akron sold at a sheriff’s sale last month for just $1, a price made possible by a revision of Ohio law governing public auctions last year.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the home is the first to sell so cheaply in Summit County since the passing of House Bill 390 last summer.
Under the new law, vacant homes can now be sold for less than two-thirds of their appraised value at public auctions across Ohio. The “fast-track foreclosure bill” also decreases the time abandoned properties are wrapped up in foreclosure suits to as little as six months, before they can attract a criminal element or deteriorate further.
Records show that no one challenged Citizens Bank’s winning $1 bid.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
The only problem with this is that someone would have to pay me a lot more than one dollar to live in Akron, Ohio.
You can BUY the home for a dollar, but do you get the past due real estate tax paid to date of purchase, or are you responsible for the retro amount due ? Also, are there any liens against it for mortgage loans or work done but unpaid ? The potential buyer may want to have a title search done (cost about $ 250-300).
No doubt, Citizen’s Bank can handle any back taxes, as for liens, they have staff who can do the research on any property, so they would already have known that, when they placed their bid. Anyone can go to the County Records Building, in their county and access those same records, if they are interested in bidding on a foreclosed, or auctioned property- -it isn’t difficult and if you’re in doubt, just ask your nearest friendly real estate agent – -they do this on every property they list, or sell. It helps people avoid “bad surprises”!
There are several cities in the US with entire blocks of unwanted, abandoned houses. There needs to be a plan to demolish these empty houses. They’re being used mainly by criminal squatters. Once these trashy houses are removed the land can be cleaned up for future use. Maybe even farming again.