Nye County raises more than $1.8 Million in first ever online tax sale

Nye County is reaping the benefits of a first-ever online tax-defaulted property sale auction.

The Nye County Treasurer’s Office hosted the event with the website Bid4Assets.com from May 31 to June 3, according to a news release.

“Our tax sale with Bid4Assets was the most successful auction Nye County has had,” said Nye County Treasurer John Prudhont. “The savings to Nye County taxpayers, resulting from utilizing Bid4Assets.com’s online platform, were substantial.”

Prudhont also said that for past live auctions, he needed to close the treasurer’s office to the public, as well as pay for travel, lodging, and meals for department staff traveling from out of town.

“Additional savings resulted from not requiring two sheriff’s deputies to provide security as well as assistance from county administration and technology staff,” he said. “With Bid4Assets.com, we didn’t need to incur those additional costs and Nye County taxpayers also benefited from the nationwide reach and participation of bidders where, in the past, few bidders participated from other states.”

Of the 567 properties that were offered during the auction, 366 were sold and 53 properties were withdrawn from the sale at the request of the treasurer’s office.

Additionally, the online nature of Bid4Assets’ platform eliminated all COVID-19 concerns surrounding the tax sale, thus allowing auction participants to bid using cellphones, laptops and computers from the safety of their homes, according to the release.

Moreover, in total, 342 bidders from 21 states, including California, New York, Texas, and Florida, participated in Nye County’s tax sale, where winning bids ranged from $784 to $140,000.

The sale generated $1,803,522.20 in proceeds for the county.

“We’re very encouraged to see such a strong rate of participation for Nye County’s first online tax sale, considering the current climate of COVID-19,” said Bid4Assets CEO Jesse Loomis. “Bid4Assets’ services were intended to help counties attract a larger bidder pool and streamline the auction process, but since the outbreak, a larger focus has been placed on keeping the tax sale process operating without creating a public health risk. Many counties are seeing an increased need for public services while at the same time facing a decrease in revenues. Our current focus is helping counties raise much-needed revenues.”

Bid4Assets was founded in 1999 and conducted the first online tax sale in 2000.

The privately held company auctions distressed real estate for the federal government, county tax collectors, financial institutions and real estate funds.

Over the last 20 years, Bid4Assets has conducted hundreds of tax sales around the country and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds for counties, according to the release.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes