Snohomish County is making it easier for its drug task force to sell homes and property seized from drug dealers.
The County Council unanimously approved changes that streamline the process of selling homes and other property, said Councilman Jeff Sax, chairman of the county’s law and justice committee.
The Snohomish Drug Task Force can now sell forfeited property on the open market instead of at public auction — helping ensure it gets the best price.
The task force also can put seized items on the market without getting approval of the County Council and county executive, a cumbersome process that delayed sales, Sax said.
"This is one more tool the county can use in its war on meth and other drugs," he said. "This new law makes certain the county taxpayers get the best value for the seized property."
Under state law, police are allowed to seize drug dealers’ homes, cars, airplanes, money and other items used in a drug operation. The property then goes through a civil forfeiture process before it’s turned over to the task force. None of the county’s changes make it easier for the task force to seize property, Sax said.
But the county expects to save money by disposing of seized property quicker, task force commander Pat Slack said.
The county isn’t sure how much it will save, but speeding up sales reduces the cost of the task force managing the property. When a home is seized, the task force is responsible for it, including paying the mortgage, liens and cleanup costs.
Now, "once it’s in the hands of the task force, it can simply be sold like you would be selling your house," Sax said. "You can put it out on the market, and the highest bidder gets it."
Previously, everything would go to a public auction, including homes. One house, appraised for $160,000, got no bids, Slack said. When the task force hired a real estate agent, the home sold for $200,000.
In the past four years, the task force has only sold three pieces of land because of the lengthy process, Slack said. During those years, the task force turned over about 20 pieces of property for the federal government to sell because it was easier for it to put homes and property on the market.
The task force expects to sell more property itself now, Slack said. It has three pieces of property for sale, including a home in Edmonds appraised at $470,000, property in Gold Bar valued at $68,000 and a site north of Snohomish appraised at $115,000, said Cherie Hutchins, property officer in Snohomish County Facilities Management.
A fourth site north of Marysville valued at $197,000 will be kept for county use, she said.
The task force receives 20 percent of the proceeds from property sales, the county gets 40 percent and Everett gets 40 percent, Sax said.
Bargain seekers who enjoy public auctions shouldn’t worry that they’ll be aced out of good deals, though.
"I think you’re going to see a lot of seized assets at public auction because it’s an easy way to dispose of the property," Sax said. "Auction fans will still have plenty of items to bid on."
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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