Gryphon USA completes Federal Foreclosure Auction

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Gryphon USA, a national real estate auction firm based in Central Ohio, has completed an auction of residential real estate for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio under an updated model that could become the standard in other Districts.

Gryphon President Richard Kruse said a residential property in Milford Center, Ohio sold for $555,721 ? including a 10 percent buyer's premium ? after completion of the online auction on July 14. The auction attracted 15 registered bidders.

Chief Judge Algenon Marbley of the district court on May 7 signed the order appointing Kruse of Gryphon USA as Special Master in the sale of the Union County residential property. It marked the first time a federal judge in Ohio has worked through a private-sector marketeer in the sale of a foreclosed property in recent history.

"Private sales of financially distressed real estate shorten the time banks or other mortgage holders have to wait to regain their money from the collateralized asset," Kruse said.

The option of private sale officers (PSO) of properties versus a county sheriff's sale in Ohio common pleas court foreclosure lawsuits began in 2017.

"In many cases," Kruse said, "PSO auctions improve the chances the property ends up in the hands of an owner-occupant or investor and fewer properties going back to the banks as REO to be sold later."

In the order, Marbley cited the December 2020 court order granting lender First Federal Community Bank of Bucyrus' motion for an expedited sale following a March 2019 decree of foreclosure of the property.

Kruse said the quick and successful Milford Center sale demonstrates to the federal court system how a private-sector sale can speed up disposition of foreclosed properties for other lenders ending up in federal court.

"There's a new precedent for private sales to conclude (federal) foreclosure orders and an updated process, including social media marketing, website syndication and online bidding, to follow," Kruse said.

The property sold above the $490,000 appraised value. "Properties in Central Ohio and around the US are continuing to sell higher than expectations," Kruse said.

Kruse actively supported the 2016 creation of the Private Sales Officer option for successful foreclosure orders in the Common Pleas Courts in Ohio. Gryphon has completed about 2,500 PSO sales since the firm's first one in March 2017.

SOURCE Gryphon USA