DENVER PUBLIC TRUSTEE

**Bidding Policies**

The Denver Public Trustee holds a foreclosure auction every Thursday at 10 AM. In order to participate in the bidding process, bidders must submit a bidder registration form (available at the Denver Public Trustee website or at the Public Trustee reception desk) IN PERSON. No e-mails or faxes of bidder registration forms will be accepted. The Denver Public Trustee requires that bidders fill out a separate bidder registration form for each property they wish to bid on. Each form submitted will be stapled with a bidder’s ticket and the Public Trustee number will be written on the reverse side of the ticket. The bidder will receive a copy of this ticket as a precaution in case the bidder registration form should be misplaced. The ticket system acts as a fraud prevention measure and bidders are required to hold onto their tickets until the auction is concluded, at which time the tickets may be discarded.

The Denver Public Trustee will accept only one check per foreclosed home. Please DO NOT bring one single check in any amount larger than the amount you intend to pay. The Public Trustee recommends that bidders bring a separate check for each property he or she is bidding on. The Denver Public Trustee’s Office will not collect checks at the beginning of the auction. Bidders will be required to hold their own money during the course of the auction. Please Note: Overbid funds will not be available for a minimum of 4 business days.

Bidders must have certified funds (cash, cashier’s checks, teller’s checks, or official checks are the only acceptable options) equaling the amount of the bank’s bid plus $1.00 and this check MUST BE made payable to The Denver Public Trustee. The Denver Public Trustee’s Office will NOT accept checks made out to private parties, third-party individuals or companies. Furthermore, having a check made out in a larger amount than the bank bid plus $1.00 confers no advantage. The Denver Public Trustee’s Office has an open auction pool. Any bidder who has the amount of the bank’s bid plus $1.00 in certified funds may win a multiple-bidder auction – with the understanding that the winning bidder must return with the remaining funds in certified form NO LATER THAN 2:00 PM that same day of the auction - or forfeit. (Should the winner not show, the second-place bidder may return - no later than 2:00 PM - with the full amount of the second- place bid, allowing the purchase of the property for the lesser bid amount.)

The Denver Public Trustee DOES accept bank wires. Instructions for bank wires can be found on-line at the Denver Public Trustee website or at The Denver Public Trustee reception counter. Wired funds MUST BE received in the office of The Denver Public Trustee by the end of business day Wednesday, or, in the event of a holiday, when the auction is moved from Thursday, the day before the auction. While wire transfer data will be available at the reception desk to confirm sufficient funds received, please note that if the wire funds are not received in a timely manner, or if by the end of a particular auction the bidder does NOT produce a cashier’s check for at least exactly the bank’s bid plus $1.00, the auction is null and void and The Denver Public Trustee will immediately conduct a new auction for the same property.

In order to process the multitude of bids received by The Denver Public Trustee’s Office, it is necessary to halt acceptance of bidder registration forms at the reception counter at 9:45 AM sharp. Bidders wishing to participate in the auction MUST have the bidder registration form TIME-STAMPED at the Denver Public Trustee reception counter NO LATER THAN 9:45 AM or it will not be honored. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE!! It is recommended, therefore, that all bidders arrive at the auction in a timely manner.

 

Non-bidding onlookers are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Properties can be pulled from the auction for a variety of reasons right up until the very second before The Denver Public Trustee conducts the auction; this is by statute. As a result, it is possible that a property in which a bidder is interested was available when the bidder registration form was accepted at The Denver Public Trustee reception counter, but is no longer available for bidding at the time of the auction. If a property is pulled, the property and The Denver Public Trustee’s number will be announced at the beginning of the auction process.

[PLEASE NOTE: Requests to pull properties from an auction come via e-mail and by phone; in the event of a delayed request from the lender or their attorney to pull a bid which can be documented as having been sent before the 10:00 am deadline, the results for that auction will be considered null and void. In the event of a voided auction, all funds received for that property from the would-be winning bidder will be returned within 24 hours. The auction will then be rescheduled as allowed by statute, usually the next week.]

The Denver Public Trustee’s Office will begin every auction by auctioning single-bidder properties first so as not to keep bidders waiting unnecessarily through a succession of bidding wars. As soon as each single bidder’s check is deemed valid, the bidder may take his or her receipt and leave the auction - or remain for the rest of the auction.

 

Bids will be taken in order of time stamp. The auctioneer will round off an awkward opening bid amount. (For example, if the bank’s bid plus $1.00 equals $113,097.00, the request may be made for an opening bid of $113,100.00.) The Denver Public Trustee’s Office will allow bidders to advance in increments of $100.00 or more. At the conclusion of each auction, the winning bidder will be asked to present his or her funds to the clerk who will determine whether or not the winning bidder’s check is valid, i.e. the minimum of the bank’s bid plus $1.00 and made out to The Denver Public Trustee. If the bid is deemed valid, a receipt will be issued. If the check does not meet the criteria stated above, the auction is void and a new auction will be immediately conducted.

 

 

 

 

Bidding starts with 3 bidders: 

$100,000       Bidder 1
$105,000       Bidder 2

$110,000       Bidder 3

 

(Bidder 1 drops out)

 

$115,000       Bidder 2
$125,000       Bidder 3

 

$130,000       Bidder 2
$187,500       Bidder 3

PLEASE NOTE:  Bidding is conducted on each property separately.  Jumping in and out of the bidding pool on a particular property is not permitted.  If a bidder’s name is called and the bidder chooses to pass, in effect, that bidder has permanently withdrawn his or her name from the bidding pool for that property.

 

Auction results will be available at The Denver Public Trustee’s Office in hard-copy format by noon on the day of auction. Sales results will be posted on the Denver Public Trustee website by 2:00 PM auction day. Please Note: If auction results are not posted on the website by 2:00 PM auction day, please call the Public Trustee’s office for a copy of the auction results to be e-mailed. A continuance list (when available) will be posted at the same time as the auction results.

Winning bidders will be e-mailed a Certificate of Purchase (COP) within 10 business days of auction. It is up to the bidder to ensure that the e-mail address is clearly written on the bidder registration form.

Once title is vested (after all redemption periods have expired), the COP-holder must request a Confirmation Deed, forms for which are now available at The Denver Public Trustee’s reception desk or online at the Public Trustee website. The cost for processing a Confirmation Deed is $30.00 for the Confirmation Deed and a recording fee of $6.00, or more, depending on the number of pages to be recorded.

 

A bidder has the responsibility to conduct a title search on any foreclosed property that is up for The Denver Public Trustee Auction. The Public Trustee has NO legal obligation to obtain for, or provide to, any bidder any information or documentation pertaining to the state or quality of the title for the foreclosed property.

Title to a property that is successfully bid upon during the Public Trustee auction will vest in accordance with state statutory requirements as provided in Article 38 of Title 38 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.