Clackamas County to auction 17 foreclosed properties, including two occupied homes and historic cabin
Published: Wednesday, February 15, 2012, 3:18 PM
By Yuxing Zheng, The Oregonian

OREGON CITY — Two occupied homes and a dilapidated, historic Steiner log cabin top the list of 17 properties in Clackamas County is proposing to sell at a public auction.

Clackamas County had foreclosed on all of the properties because of delinquent property taxes. The auction is scheduled for May 2. The auctions occur annually with the goal of returning the properties to the tax rolls.

Most of the properties are vacant parcels too small for development. Many also lack public access.

Properties of note include:

• a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home on Southeast Keeley Court in Clackamas that is currently occupied. The occupant has been asked to vacate the home by today. The 1,814-square-foot home, built in 1991, has an assessed real market value of $232,100. The minimum bid is expected to be set at $199,000, about 86 percent of the real market value.
• an occupied manufactured home on 2.9 acres on South Howards Mill Road in Mulino. The home was built in 1998. The occupant has been asked to leave by today. The assessed real market value is $180,937, and the minimum bid is expected to be set at $135,700.

• a 1932 Steiner log cabin in the Zigzag area designated a Clackamas County Historic Landmark. The historic designation restricts what a new property owner could do with the cabin. The cabin is in very poor condition with rotting floors, roof, windows and structure, county officials said. The property consists of two tax lots with a combined 0.23 acres, large enough for development. The assessed real market value for both parcels is $94,318, with a minimum bid expected to be set at $23,580.

The two homes that are currently occupied will be pulled from the auction list if they are not vacated by the auction date. The county intends to pursue an eviction process if the occupants do not vacate by today.

To sell a tax foreclosed property, state statutes dictate whether to hold a public auction or conduct a private sale. Public auctions are usually conducted each spring, though private sales may occur anytime.

The county’s foreclosure process usually takes six years: taxes must be delinquent for three years, then a two-year judgment is filed. Foreclosure occurs in the sixth year, when the property is deeded to the county in lieu of uncollected taxes.

This year, the county received 28 foreclosed properties, up from the usual 10 to 15 properties.

Commissioners are expected to formally approve the auction list at a later business meeting.
– Yuxing Zheng
© 2012 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved

40 Stanislaus properties with tax debts set for auction
By J.N. Sbrantijnsbranti@modbee.com
last updated: February 13, 2012 11:20:58 PM

The real estate market’s collapse may have cost property owners a fortune, but rest assured: The tax man always gets paid.

Homeowners can dodge property taxes for a while, but after five years they must pay up or watch their homes get sold in a tax auction.

That’s the fate that awaits about 40 Stanislaus County properties Feb. 29.

Some of those homes could sell for as little as $3,600, which is how much one west Modesto house owes in back taxes and fees.

Bidders willing to pay at least $31,900 may end up owning nearly 39 acres of idyllic rolling hills near Lake Don Pedro.

There are many properties to choose from, including:

• A typical tract house built in 1986 in northeast Modesto: $21,600
• A busy corner lot zoned for a gas station near downtown Modesto: $23,300
• A Ceres shop now rented to a dry cleaner: $18,900
• A 1948-vintage house in south Modesto: $21,000
• About 23 acres of vacant land just outside Hughson designated for multifamily housing: $48,400
• Assorted homes and parcels in Oakdale, Turlock, Riverbank, Denair, Salida, Grayson and elsewhere around the county.

Buyers who take advantage of this leap day auction, however, may be taking a leap of faith because all these properties will be sold “as is” with no guarantees.

That means they could have hidden problems, such as ground contamination, faulty wiring or remote locations that are difficult to access.

Some of these properties have checkered pasts, with numerous liens muddying their titles.

For example, there are seven ranch-size parcels near La Grange and Lake Don Pedro where an exclusive community of estate homes called French Bar Bluffs was planned.

In 2005, when property values were soaring, developer William Ullman priced the rural parcels from $650,000 to $900,000 each.

Now those 20- to 39-acre lots are scheduled to be auctioned for the values of their back property taxes, which range from $5,200 to $31,900.

There’s a catch, of course. The dream community Ullman envisioned isn’t likely to emerge anytime soon, and many of the actions he undertook to create it have been undone.

Seven years ago, state and federal agencies discovered French Bar Bluffs had done significant environmental damage to a creek that flowed through the 544-acre development.

Ullman’s crews had installed eight dams in a tributary of the Tuolumne River. The work was done illegally, without water rights and environmental or grading permits. That caused extensive damage to the waterway, and the government ordered a massive cleanup and restoration of the property.

Most the work eventually was done, but Ullman died in 2007 before the contractors who did it were paid. And the government is owed $1.2 million in fines because of the environmental mess, according to Wendy Wyels, a compliance and enforcement supervisor for the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

“We’re not expecting to see much of anything out of this tax sale,” said Wyels, whose agency is one of many hoping for proceeds from the auction.

Whoever ends up buying those seven auctioned parcels will be required to abide by extensive restrictions now in place to protect the creek, the river, plant life and animals.

Other parcels facing tax auctions this month also may have problems. That’s why the tax collector warns potential bidders to beware before buying.

Property bought at the tax auction comes with land title that is “free of all encumbrances of any kind existing before the sale,” but there are exceptions to that rule.

The properties still will have to pay bills for things such as school bonds and Mello-Roos taxes.

Those are the tax burdens bidders best understand. There’s a 1,233-square-foot home at 5836 Terminal Ave. in Riverbank, for instance, that owes $48,200 in back taxes and fees.

That modest home has an assessed value of $112,000, but it has a hefty tax burden. Beyond the regular property taxes its new buyers will have to pay annually, that home will be charged extra taxes to pay off seven school bonds, a fire district bond and a $1,480 per year Mello-Roos fee.

While the tax auction is set and the sale is being well publicized, many of the property owners may pay off their debts in time to avoid the sale.

In typical years, all but a dozen or so property owners pay before auction day.

This year, however, Stanislaus Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Jegan Raja predicts that perhaps twice that many properties will be auctioned.

Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at jnsbranti@modbee.com or (209) 578-2196