DUBOIS – The City of DuBois has begun steps to sell two blighted houses it purchased from a judicial sell. Two individuals had approached the city about purchasing the houses from DuBois. This set in motion a bidding process.
There were six houses the city had attempted to purchase from a judicial sale. The city had planned on using CDBG money to demolish the homes. The city was outbid on the other four homes. DuBois purchases 6 Schaffer Avenue and 225 Morrison Street for $4,500 and $2,500 respectively. The individuals who came forward wanting to purchase the houses have offered to pay the city back the cost of buying these houses, $4,500 and $2,500, plus additional closing costs.
According to City Solicitor Toni Cherry, the city has to sell all property through a bidding process unless there was a specific condition stated in the deeding process. As of Monday night the bidding process was begun by the council accepting the offers of these two individuals.
Any bid made requires that the purchaser have the properties back in taxable and non-blighted condition within as soon as possible in accordance to the purpose behind the city originally buying the houses in the first place. The bidding process is open for two weeks, and the original two bidders would be allowed to rebid. Cherry felt it would be unfair to allow their current bids to stand in that scenario as they were made assuming no other interest.