Your software’s auction manager is a simple way to manage and process auctions at your facility. You can learn about how to setup auction manager on our help site.
Schedule an auction
After activating auction manager, when you access the Past Due tab, you'll notice the Auctions tab at the top right.
On the Auctions page, all of your tenants who’ve reached the auction stage of delinquency will appear. You'll see their unit numbers, the number of days past due, current balances, and the dates their accounts were paid through.
To schedule an auction, select the New Auction button. The New Auction window will open. Enter the auction date, time, and auctioneer in the fields. Add details in the section titled Add Note. Next, click Save.
The next step is to add tenants to the scheduled auction. To add a tenant to an auction, click the Add to Auction button next to the tenant's details.
After clicking Add to Auction next to a tenant's name, the Select Auction window will open.
If you have more than one auction scheduled, use the dropdown under Select Auction to select the auction you'd like to add this tenant to. If you have a letter setup for 0 days after the unit is scheduled for auction, you'll see a Lien Letter Notice or auction notice at the bottom of the window. You can choose which address to send the notice to and select an additional contact to receive a copy. To have a lien letter sent to the additional contact person, check the box next to Automatically send to additional contact(s) and the tenant's additional contacts will drop down so you can select how the lien letter is sent.
If you have auction fees set up, you can remove the auction fee by unchecking the box next to Apply auction fee. The auction fee will be applied to the tenant's account immediately. If you do not have auction fees or auction notices set up for your facility, the option to apply an auction fee or send a lien notice will not appear.
To add the tenant to an auction, add a note and click Save.
Sometimes mistakes are made, and tenants are added to the wrong auction. This is why there is a 5-minute delay from the time the tenant is added to the auction to the time the notice is generated. If you're using Mail House, the notice(s) will be automatically sent to the Mail House after a 5-minute delay. If you will be mailing the notice yourself, after the 5-minute delay, it will be available for printing from the tenant's document page or the Past Due tab, filtered by the Send Auction Notice action.
Once you've added a tenant to the auction, their tenant details will no longer appear in the list of units available for auction. This prevents you from scheduling the same unit for more than one auction. Additionally, you can remove them from an auction and move them to another scheduled auction at any time.
To see details about a scheduled auction, click the arrow next to the auction date. Details about the units scheduled for the auction will drop down.
If a tenant pays their balance in full by the day of the auction before an auction has started, they will be removed from the auction manager, including any scheduled auctions. Partial payments will not remove them from the auction.
Process auctions
After an auction has taken place, the Status heading in Auction Manager will say Needs Action. This change will appear the day the auction is scheduled. To process an auction, select Needs Action.
Details about the units included in the auction will be displayed. Here, you'll have several options to process the units involved.
If the unit did not sell at auction and you plan to auction it again, select Remove from Auction, and the unit will return to the list of units available for auction. Otherwise, you can select Process, then check the box next to Unit did not sell in the Auction Sale window under the bid amount field. You will be given the option to move out the tenant without returning their unit to the auction list. You may then choose to write the outstanding balance off as bad debt from the move-out success screen.
If a unit is sold, click the Process button next to the unit details.
The Auction Sale window will open. On this screen, enter the amount of the winning bid next to Bid Amount. If you are charging an auction commission, you will see it as a line item under the unit details. Select a payment method, enter the payment amount, and process the payment for the winning bid. You'll need to enter the winning bidder's details under Buyer Information. Once you've entered all necessary information, select Payment.
Processing your sold units at the end of the auction when bidders are present will be more efficient for you, as it will be easiest to have buyer information on hand. If you are using an auction service to collect payment, you will need to get this information from your auctioneer.
You will see confirmation that the unit was sold at auction. You can choose to close this unit to move out later, or select Move-out Tenant. Additionally, you can print out or email the bidder's receipt for their auction payment.
An auction receipt displays the bidder's information, the unit they purchased, and the amount the bidder paid for the auction. You can also access the receipt from the unit page.
If you previously closed the Auction Sale window before moving the tenant out, you can move the tenant out by revisiting the Auctions tab. Even if you have processed an auction and added the winning bid amount, tenants will remain on this tab until you complete their move-out. You can move out a tenant whose auction has been processed from the Auctions tab by clicking the Move Out button.
Moving out tenants after an auction
The move-out process will vary depending on the auction outcome.
The winning bid was less than the amount due o the tenant's account
If the bid amount is less than the tenant's overdue balance, you'll see a balance on the account. To continue the move-out process, select Complete Move-out.
After selecting Complete Move-out, your tenant has been successfully moved out. Next, you'll have the option to Write off bad debt. To write off debt, simply select Write off bad debt.
On the next screen, you will see an outline of the remaining charges on the tenant's account. Enter the amounts of each charge that you'd like to write off in the fields next to the charges. You'll also need to enter a reason for writing off the bad debt in the provided field. This field is required. Last, select Write off bad debt.
When bad debt has been successfully written off, you'll see a confirmation. Your move-out will now be complete.
⚠ If your facility has edited your Corporate settings to automatically write off all bad debt, then this process will be automatically done for you.
📖 You can learn more about writing off bad debt on our help site.
The winning bid exceeded the amount due on the tenant's account
If the winning bid is higher than what the tenant owes, the extra amount is added to the tenant's ledger as Excess Auction Proceeds. This money is classified as Rent Revenue in your General Ledger until it is refunded to the tenant.
Follow the same steps for moving out as you would for any other bid amount. After you've entered the bid amount for your auction and proceeded to the Move-out screen, you'll see the Excess Auction Proceeds, the difference between the bid and the tenant's balance, available to be refunded to the tenant. As is in accordance with auction laws in most states, any money left over after all of the open charges on the ledger have been paid should be refunded to the tenant. On this screen, you can choose to enter a note if you wish. To continue, select Next.
The next step prompts you to enter a refund reason. This field is required. In this section, you will also enter the mailing address for the refund check. You can use the tenant's address on file by selecting the box next to Mailing Address.
A confirmation screen will appear to confirm that the move-out was successful.
The procedure for issuing a refund check is determined by your facility's policies and preferences in your Refund Settings. You can learn more about refunds at move-out on our help site.
Once a refund has been processed and approved (if your facility settings require refunds to be approved before they are issued), a Check Refund entry and an Excess Auction Proceeds Refund entry will be added to the tenant's ledger to indicate the excess was refunded to the tenant. At this point, Rent Revenue is debited, and Accounts Payable is credited for the refund amount in your General Ledger.
View auction details in Reports and on the Task List
You can find out which units at your facility have triggered the delinquency stage for auction on your Task List. To view your tenants scheduled for auction, open your Task List and click the arrow next to Delinquency. Clicking Schedule Auction from here will take you to the Auction section of your Past Due tab. Additionally, if you have auctions that are ready to be processed, you can select Process Auction to take you directly to the Auctions section of your software.
There are also two reports you can run to view auction details:
Auction Schedule: This report gives you a list of upcoming auctions that are currently scheduled to take place during the time frame that you specify. It will tell you the date and time of the auction, as well as the auctioneer's name, the number of units, and the total current balances due for the scheduled units.
Auction Summary: This outlines which units were auctioned during the time frame you specify. It details the unit number, move-out status, account name, buyer name, amount owed on the unit, proceeds from the unit's sale, tax collected, and net.
Run the Check Refunds report in Corporate Reports to see details on the refund checks you need to issue.