Nearly 1,000 tax-defaulted properties in Riverside County are heading to the auction block.
On Tuesday, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved placing 946 properties in default up for sale via open electronic bidding, My News L.A. reported. The Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector received unanimous board support to partner with Bid4Assets to conduct the online sales. The lots consist of either houses or vacant parcels that were seized as a result of unpaid property taxes.
Minimum bids for the real estate will start as low as $100 for several properties in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar. The highest minimum ask listed was nearly $1.2 million for a residential property in Desert Hot Springs, according to My News L.A. The current total estimated value of all the properties combined is more than $28.9 million. Minimum bid amounts represent both sales and tax costs, and some might be reduced if certain properties don’t generate interest in the first round of bidding.
This is the 14th year that Riverside County has used internet-based auctioning for its entire collection of assets with liens.
The choice of website to sell the properties drew questions from residents, with one Rancho Mirage resident telling the board he doesn’t understand why the county is using “this internet-based bidding outfit to dispose of these properties.”
“For common everyday people like me, it’s difficult [to access high-speed internet],” Rancho Mirage local Brad Anderson said. “People should have the option of using other avenues, other than the internet.
”County officials noted that if an interested bidder lacks proper internet connection at home, they can use computers at public libraries and other facilities. “This makes it so that people don’t have to go to individual properties to make a bid. That’s the real advantage,” board chair Karen Spiegel said.
While 946 properties are slated for sale at auction, individual lots could be taken off the list if owners satisfy their tax liens ahead of time. — Chris Malone Méndez
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