Housing corporation auctions off three properties

The Northern Marianas Housing Corp. sold three properties in the two auctions they held earlier this month.

Mortgage and Credit Division manager Jesse Palacios said during Thursday’s board meeting that the auctions were held on Feb. 7 and 14.

In the Feb. 7 auction, Palacios said they sold only one of the six properties that were auctioned off. The lot is located in Kagman and was bought for $45,000. He noted that the buyer is one of their clients in the Home Investment Partnership Act or HOME program.

According to Palacios, they were expecting to sell another property but the prospective buyer was not able to attend the auction.

In the Feb. 14 auction, Palacios said they managed to sell two out of the nine properties: one in San Vicente for $53,000 and another in Kagman for $41,000.

The sold properties were among the 32 properties that NMHC bought back from the Rural Development program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Of the 32 properties, 16 remain unsold, Palacios said, adding that an RD client updated his account and made a payment at the auction.

Palacios disclosed that they would like to have more people take part in their auctions. Another one is scheduled next month.

“The proceeds of these auctions go to a reserve account that we are building for future USDA RD accelerated loans that will be foreclosed upon,” he told Saipan Tribune.

For now, Palacios said that the only loans they are giving out to low-income families come from the HOME program.

At the meeting, board chair Marcie Tomokane suggested that for next month’s auction, the corporation should do a “wholesale auction” of all the properties they own rather than the “piecemeal” auction the agency is doing right now.

“It [piecemeal auction] is good for the newspaper business but some people, when they see a wholesale listing, especially real estate developers, they want to come in and grab the whole thing,” said Tomokane.

While the corporation is not restricted from doing a wholesale auction, legal counsel Vicente Salas said the agency should also consider the issue of “manageability” or having more people in one room for the auction. He suggested that the auction, in that case, be held in a bigger venue such as the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center.

Tomokane noted that separate wholesale auctions should also be conducted on Tinian and Rota to be “fair.”

Tomokane also proposed that those occupying corporation properties and do not have a monthly rental or lease-to-own agreement should be evicted due to liability issues.

“Actually this is the first time that I’ve said it but I think it’s the proper way and the right way to do it because unless we procure general liability insurance, we’re going to have those borrowers and families that are staying in a home that they don’t own, more so if anything happens to the building or the house, we’re still liable. We need to protect ourselves,” she explained.

Board member Diego Songao raised concern about evicting people, saying they should first be informed in a letter about the need to vacate the property if they do not want to take the lease-to-own option.

Salas noted that these former tenants have been given notices. Palacios concurred that they did give out the lease-to-own letters that also serve as a 30-day eviction notice if they do not avail of the lease-to-own option.

Palacios informed the board that only one of their properties is currently occupied and that the tenant had been given the lease-to-own letter, and that the tenant expressed interest about the option in his Feb. 21 letter to the corporation.