By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, Miami Herald
A new online foreclosure auction system started with a mission of quickly moving a chunk of foreclosed properties while opening up the bidding process to regular folks.
A little more than a month later, some of the newcomers who bought property online say they were misled by the site and ended up spending thousands of dollars on condo liens and properties laden with hefty mortgages.
In some cases, after purchasing, they found the properties were still subject to foreclosure.
Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin said the online auction process is working as planned, and the few complaints he has received have come from people who did not take the time to understand the process.
The site has sold more than 1,500 homes in its first four weeks, with buyers hailing from all over the world. The clerk expects the number of homes sold each week to continue to rise, eventually reaching as many 2,000 a week, a pace that will help cut into the cumbersome backlog of more than 100,000 foreclosure filings.
Those who have lost money point to the disconnect between the website’s buyer-beware disclaimers, and the county’s attempts to promote the site as simple and straightforward “just like eBay.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1488235.html
