Sale of surplus county owned real property is governed by Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS chapter 275 )
and county policies. Counties in Oregon acquire fee title to tax
foreclosed properties and do not sell tax liens or tax lien
certificates.
Lane County properties are sold on an "as is, where is, with all faults" basis. Property is conveyed with a Quitclaim Deed
. No warranties or guarantees are made concerning the condition of
title (liens and/or encumbrances may still be on title), the ability to
use a property for any particular purpose, the ability to develop a
property pursuant to state and local land use law, location of boundary
lines, environmental condition or any other matter concerning a
property. It is the buyer's responsibility to thoroughly investigate a
property prior to purchasing it (obtaining a title report is highly
recommended)
Purchasing at a Public Sale/Auction
The first step in disposing of surplus
real property with an assessed value of $15,000 or greater is to offer
it at a public sale (auction). Lane County generally holds one such
sale annually. There is no set time of year when a sale occurs.
Beginning approximately one month prior to the sale date, notice of the
sale will be published once per week for four weeks in the legal ad
section of the Eugene Register Guard newspaper. The notice
will include a list of the properties being offered, minimum bids and
other terms and conditions of the sale. The sale notice should also be
posted on the Property Management page of the county's web site.
Most properties acquired by Lane County through tax foreclosure are
unimproved (bare land without buildings, wells, septic systems or other
improvements to the property). Many of the parcels are small or
irregularly shaped with little use or value except to an adjoining
owner. The county may acquire a few properties each year with houses on
them and it is not uncommon for the county to transfer these to other
governmental agencies or non-profit entities for affordable housing
purposes.
Purchasing at Private Sale.
Properties that do not sell at a public
auction may then be sold at private sale - a sale directly between a
buyer and the County. Most properties that remain in inventory are
either small strips of land which typically are of value only to an
adjoining owner, parcels which cannot be developed due to land use
regulations, parcels which do not have legal access to them or parcels
which may have environmental/hazardous waste issues. View a list of properties in inventory. Please note that some of
the properties may have already been sold or are not available as the
county may wish to retain them for public purposes (park land, right of
way).
Process for Potential Purchase at Private Sale
1. First contact the County's Property Management Officer to discuss
the property you are interested in. The Property Management Officer is
authorized to negotiate sales and sale terms on behalf of the County.
2. If, after consultation with the Property Management Officer or other
assigned County representative, you wish to proceed in making an offer,
submit your offer to the Property Management Officer on the appropriate County form which contains terms and conditions for submitting an offer.
3. Upon receipt of a formal offer it will be presented to the Lane
County Board of Commissioners with a recommendation for either
acceptance or rejection (only the Board of Commissioners may legally
accept an offer on behalf of the County). The process may take up to 90
days.
4. If an offer is accepted by the Board of
Commissioners a Quitclaim Deed will be executed and delivered to the
Purchaser upon payment of the purchase price. The Purchaser will be
responsible for recording fees.
5. If an offer is rejected the Purchaser's deposit will be refunded.
Please contact the county's Property Management Officer for more information.