I need to represent a buyer at trustee sale, any recommendations ?

Residential Realtors
1

Hello,
Looking to represent a buyer a trustee sale for few properties to own. So, what will be a good way to handle the situation with the buyer in terms of cashiers check and other issues; so i can try to get the properties without the buyer being present at the trustee sale. Thanks

2

Hi Mac,
You will need to take your ID and the certified funds or cash in order to bid. The auctioneer will need to qualify you to bid which means seeing your ID and verifying that you have the ability to pay on the spot. Most investors take cashiers checks made out to themselves and if they are the successful bidder then they can simply endorse the check. This also makes it easy to use the checks to bid on any sale as well as redeposit if you are not the successful bidder. If you are the winning bidder any overage will be returned by the Trustee typically within a few days if you do not have the exact amount. You will be given a receipt and the Trustee will send you the Trustees Deed to be recorded by you.
We have a great video on what happens at a Trustee Sale that shows actual footage of a sale and you get commentary by Sean O’Toole the Founder of ForeclosureRadar. Check it out at: http://www.foreclosuretruth.com/blog/sean/video-foreclosure-auction-guide/?

3

Thanks for the reply Michelle, but let’s say I’m acting agent or buying for someone who is not present at the auction, what is the method to use in such a case in terms of certified funds. The buyer may be feel safe writing a huge amount of check in my name (will be best method be to write to trustee’s name )

4

It can be made to you OR directly to the Trustee. Professionals don’t make it directly to a particular trustee because the check is then limited to sales where that one company is the trustee.

5

ok. Also, if i win, do i just provide the name and the address of the buyer and sign the forum myself?

6

Adding to Mike and Michelle’s comments … If you are at a trustee sale representing a 3rd party who is not present and the cashier’s checks are not made payable to you or the trustee (i.e. your driver’s license/ID does not match the payee on the cashier’s checks) , then the auctioneer will most likely require that you produce a power of attorney or other such official document specifying that you have authority to act (bid and endorse checks over) on behalf of the absentee 3rd party. Once you become known to the auctioneer (attended multiple auctions and purchased several properties), they may or may not (depending on the auctioneer/company) require that you show that authorization letter. I did witness one bidder (acting for an LLC) get challenged by an auctioneer to produce said authorization … probably because that bidder was new on the scene and the auctioneer wanted to follow corporate protocol.

7

You will need to endorse over the checks (making them payable to the trustee on that particular property) and the auctioneer will also ask you exactly how you want to vest title. That form/data gets immediately sent to the trustee, typically same day, and soon thereafter you (name address you provide) will receive the trustee’s deed upon sale, which should be promptly recorded at the county.

8

Mac - 1. If you have ck. payable directly to Trustee you just hand him/her the ck. and they will fill out the 1 page receipt form with the info you give. (Your Name, address, phone and the name by how you want title vested.) 2. If the ck. is made payable to you - you sign your name on the back and write “payable to trustee’s name”. You will need a DL, Passport or some ID.

9

Great, thanks for info.

10

I believe that the poster is asking how to be an ‘agent’ for a 3rd party buyer who is not at the auction and the 3rd party does not want to make large checks out to that agent’s name.

  1. Make checks payable to an entity - has to be like an LLC or Company. Owner/Manager/Officer of that entity has to create a power of attorney that is notarized with his signature that spells out your exact name to be allowed to act on their behalf. Make sure it clearly states that you can tender funds and endorse in the company’s name.
    This power of attorney has to be dated and cannot be more than one year old. The name on the power of attorney has to exactly match your Driver’s License and you will be required to show the Driver’s License and Power of Attorney after winning a bid.

  2. If the 3rd party that wants you to bid does not have an ‘entity’, I do not know exactly how it works (because that is usually what is going on with the kids bidding for someone on the phone). I am guessing that you still need a power of attorney from the 3rd party allowing you to endorse cashier’s checks that are made out to the 3rd party personally. However, if I was the 3rd party I would be real hesitant to create a blanket Power of Attorney for someone that is just bidding on my behalf a couple of times. Same thing about exact name matching Driver’s License.

11

GJ - Of course if it is a “one time shot”, the check can be made out directly to the trustee.
A PofA can be written to be quite limited as to what powers are granted.