Government Auctions Overview
Every year thousands of properties are being seized by the US government. This is due to various reasons which include defaulting on payments, tax fraud, or criminal activity involvement. To dispose of these assets, the government usually conducts public auction. You would even see advertisement saying that you could get a car for only a 1000$. Unbelievable you might say, but there is a certain proof to that claim.So how does this police or government auction work? Almost every state in the US has it's so called "seizure laws". These laws give the government or police entity the authority to auction off seized merchandise and assets. This means that properties bought with money that come from a commission of a crime could be seized. Assets of convicted drug dealers or crime bosses and those of their family are included in this scope of the law. Items usually taken from convicted felons include cars, trucks, boat, jewelry, and even clothing.
Items in the auction could also come from the evidence police have gathered when they arrest a suspect. Organized crime rings usually stash their items in big warehouses waiting for it to be shipped out or resold. Although after the arrest every effort is made for the stolen goods to be returned to its rightful owners. As in the case of a chop-shop where parts of luxury cars are disassembled and sold as spare parts; items such as these are very hard to identify much less be returned to its owner. As a result police and government authorities are sometimes left with warehouses full of evidence. After the court hearings have adjourned and there is no longer a need for these evidences they usually end up in auctions.
Another source of items from government auctions are vehicles being towed by the police for one reason or another. These vehicles are usually involved in accidents and needs to be cleared off the streets. Some are towed because of illegal parking. A small percentage of these cars usually end up in government auctions; that is after every legal measure has been exhausted to bring the vehicles back to its owners.
Merchandise also comes from people who turn over properties to police hoping to get it back to its owners. A set period of time is being afforded by the government authorities to have these items claimed. After that time period expires then the merchandise will see its way into the auctions.
Cars and other vehicles might also come from various government institutions. These vehicles are usually surplus and needs to be taken off the books. Usually they might come from the hospitals, police stations, banks, and some government agencies. These vehicles are well maintained because of the strict safety compliance policy of the US government. There are a wide selection of vehicles to choose from like sedans, closed trucks, utility vehicles, and many more.
Auction events usually occur on a regular basis, just check your local city administration office for the schedule on your particular area. You can also search, find and bid on government auctions online, check out our review of the best seized vehicles, personal properties and foreclosures auction websites.