Sheriff's sales are foreclosed properties. The sales are held usually on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. at:
 
Muscatine County Jail
400 Walnut St.
Muscatine, IA 52761
 
For more information and requirements, call the Civil Division at 563-263-4521 and ask for Melissa Hurlbut. Sale notices are posted in the front lobby of the Sheriff's Office for public viewing and are listed under Quick Links to the right of this page.  Properties listed are subject to change without notice.
 
Unless specified all Sheriff's Sales will be conducted at the Muscatine County Jail.

General Information

Most of these sales are for mortgage foreclosures, which means that the debtor is in arrears on the mortgage. The sale may be a foreclosure of a second mortgage rather than a first mortgage, which will leave the first mortgage still in place.

There also may be stipulations in the foreclosure decree that have special provisions for certain debts. The mortgage company is entitled to bid ahead of time what is due them, including attorney fees, court costs and Sheriff's fees. The mortgage company's bid is not disclosed until the time of the sale. The foreclosing bank's bid will be the opening bid. If no one else bids, the property will be sold to the bank for their bid. Whoever has the highest bid over the bank's bid will be the purchaser.

Redemption Period

If a foreclosure sale does not have a redemption period, a deed is issued within a few days. If the foreclosure sale does have a redemption period, a Certificate of Purchase is issued and may be turned in at the end of the redemption period (providing the property has not been redeemed) along with a fee to the Sheriff's office for issuance of a Sheriff's Deed.

The Sheriff's office cannot guarantee clear title to the property. These properties are sold "caveat emptor," which means "buyer beware."

Property Research

Each property should be researched before bidding, such as a title search, ascertaining if there is any unpaid taxes or special assessments, etc. You may want to also check to be sure that all persons who have judgments against the debtor have been listed in the foreclosure decree. If they have not, the judgment not listed will still be in place on the house after the sale. As with any real property purchase, it is advisable to have an attorney who is knowledgeable in real estate matters check into the property.

Property Address

At the time of the sale, we sell the property by reading the legal description. We do not sell by address. Therefore, if the address on our listing on the website (as provided to us by the attorney) is not correct we are not responsible.

All foreclosures are published in the county legal papers as determined each year by the County Board of Supervisors.

Sale Notice Publication

You may need to contact the Civil Division to ascertain which county publication the specific Sheriff's Sale Notice is published in. The publication includes:

• Case number
• Date, time and place of the sale
• Legal description of the property being sold
• Plaintiff, defendants, and all persons holding judgments (if listed in the decree)
• Plaintiff attorney's name and address