Bidders flock to foreclosure sale, but attorney says recession isn't a factor

About two dozen bidders came to the Craven County Courthouse on Friday to vie for property that people owe back taxes on, but the man in charge of the auction said the recession has not yet caused a spike in the foreclosure cases he handles.

Seven pieces of property were on the auction block, but none of them had inhabitable houses on them.

"This is no more extraordinary than any other tax foreclosure we've handled in the last two or three years," said Mark Bardill, a tax attorney from Trenton who handles foreclosures for Craven County and 10 other local governments from Eastern North Carolina to the Virginia border.

"It's very rare that we auction off somebody's home, anyway," he said. "It just doesn't usually get to that point."

J.D. Banks drove from Maysville just to see if he had a shot at getting any of the property.

He came away with a couple of acres in Dover. He said he bid $4,000 on the land.

"I came looking a deal," Banks said. "I think it's a growed-up old home place. I'm going to clean it up and look to sell it."

The successful bidders each put down 20 percent of their final bid prices, but anyone can offer an upset bid on any property that was auctioned Friday. Upset bids have to be placed within 10 days, and the clock started Friday.

Lonnie Alston will place one of those bids, he said.

Alston is in the Navy. He drove from Norfolk, Va., on Friday to offer a bid on some land in Harlowe.

But the auction lasted less than 20 minutes.

And Alston was five minutes too late.

"I'm going to put in an upset bid as soon as they tell me how to do it," he said. "I figure one of these days, I might get stationed at Cherry Point, and that land would be a good place to live."

Tax Administrator Ronnie Antry said it is too early to tell whether Craven County will see a significant change this year in the amount of back taxes owed.

What he does know is that Craven County's collections are down about eight-tenths of a percent from this time last year - a decrease that amounts to about $350,000.

"Once tax assessments are sent, people have until Jan. 6 to pay them without interest," he said. "After that, we start our enforcement remedies to collect them, but we start with things like garnishing wages. It's really a last resort for the property to end up on the auction block."