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CivicSource featured on Out to Lunch

Virtually Real
October 5, 2017

From the beginning of recorded history we’ve  had a fascination with the blurred lines between the real world and the supernatural world. Greek gods and Hindu gods were described as humans with superpowers who lived in other dimensions and interacted with people on Earth. In biblical times, an all-powerful but invisible God granted some humans super powers, like parting seas and feeding multitudes. In our own times we’ve continued to blur the lines between the real and non-real worlds. We’ve created a non-real online world where a regular person can have a whole different persona – on places like Facebook. We can strap on goggles and walk, swim and even fly, in what we call virtual reality. And when it comes to business, we’re coming to accept the blurred line between transactions that happen in the online world and real world as perfectly normal.

Peter’s lunch guests are both on the cutting edge of this blurred line – if in fact a blurred line can have a cutting edge.

Stephen Morel

Stephen Morel is Chief Legal Officer at a company called CivicSource. CivicSource takes real world houses that are blighted – or what they call “tax-distressed” – and puts them online where they are auctioned and sold. You can find CivicSource here in Louisiana,  as well as Tennessee, Mississippi and Missouri. Since 2008 CivicSource has sold over 37,000 pieces of property.

Matt Findley

Matt Findley is President and Voice of Reason at inXile Entertainment. inXile is one of the most influential and successful creators of online games in the country. They’re responsible for titles like The Mage’s Tale, The Bard’s Tale, and Wasteland. If you play video games you’re already impressed. If you’ve never heard of any of this, you’re going to be impressed by the multi millions of dollars involved and the unique crowdfunding business model that inXile has pioneered.

Matt Findley, Stephen Morel, Peter Ricchiuti

Photos at Commander’s Palace by Alison Moon.

Original article and live recording found here: http://www.itsneworleans.com/shows/out-to-lunch/virtually-real

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Baton Rouge properties up for auction Wednesday, including 11-site bundle, after owners fail to pay taxes

East Baton Rouge holds auctions the first Wednesday of each month to sell property seized when the owners did not pay their taxes.

Properties are up for auction on Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Click here to see a list of available properties.

The city partnered with CivicSource, a New Orleans-based company that allows prospective buyers to place bids online for tax adjudicated properties, many abandoned and blighted.

By law, the government can hold an auction once someone puts down a deposit, typically $850. The city then advertises the sale, puts it on the block and sells it to the highest bidder.

The winning bid covers the price of the title, closing cost and title insurance. The person who pays the deposit gets the money back if he or she doesn’t win the auction.

More information and a list of adjudicated property for sale is available at civicsource.com.

Article originally published here: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_7365c48c-a78b-11e7-a1d5-f75c2ccadc15.html
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Bogalusa to hold real estate information session

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 6:30 p.m., the city government of Bogalusa will partner with CivicSource to hold a community information session on purchasing tax-delinquent adjudicated real estate. The session will be at the Bogalusa City Hall courtroom, located at 202 Arkansas Ave.

The event is free and open to the public, and representatives from CivicSource will be available to answer questions from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. in the city hall lobby before the presentation begins. Comprehensive training on all aspects of purchasing adjudicated properties, including how to acquire title insurance, will be covered.

All adjudicated properties for sale at CivicSource.com went unsold in a previous tax sale. The city of Bogalusa auctions these tax-delinquent properties online through CivicSource.com. By hosting the sale online, bidders who would normally be unable to attend the auction in person are able to participate from their homes or places of business.

The sales return blighted, abandoned or tax-delinquent properties to commerce, while regenerating significant annual tax revenues to the parish.

“This is an opportunity for the citizens of Bogalusa to learn how to purchase these adjudicated pieces of property,” Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette said.

Interested citizens can visit online at CivicSource.com to view a complete listing of qualified tax-distressed adjudicated properties or to nominate properties for auction through a deposit of $850. The properties are listed for $0 plus closing costs. Both commercial and residential properties are available for purchase.

To RSVP for the upcoming information session on purchasing adjudicated properties, visit events.CivicSource.com.

Article originally published here: http://www.bogalusadailynews.com/2017/09/30/city-to-hold-real-estate-information-session/

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Adjudicated Property Auctions Bring Glimmer of Hope to East Baton Rouge Neighbors

BATON ROUGE – A house that’s falling apart is worrying neighbors.

The structure, located in the 3700 block of Main Street in Baton Rouge has been in disrepair for the last few years. Isabella Lorraine says she’s concerned about the overgrown lot that’s falling apart.

“It’s a disgrace to Main Street,” she said.

The roof and siding are falling off and the door is wide open. Lorraine says it brings rats, mice, snakes, and squatters. But above all, she’s concerned about her safety.

“A couple of months ago we had an officer come out there looking for a suspect,” she said.

Tired of looking at it, Lorraine says she’s called the City-Parish to trim the trees and cut back the overgrown vegetation. She has been successful once, but recently says she’s had trouble getting a response.

A glimmer of hope recently came when Lorraine heard the lot would be cleared and the structure demolished, but she’s still waiting for that to happen.

Three weeks ago, the lot was listed on CivicSource.com as an adjudicated property and tax deed sale. The site auctions off full ownership of properties for a fraction of its value. Often, the homeowner has walked away. The Main Street location is one of about 2,000 lots listed within East Baton Rouge Parish. The starting bid for the property is about $5,200.

Lorraine hopes the lot will be given new life and someone will care for the property again.

“We don’t want anything to happen back here, due to this house,” she said.

The City-Parish says the property is contained within a group of demo’s that will be cleared in the next few weeks. Demolitions are scheduled on a number of factors, including other demo’s in the area, weather, size of the house to be torn down, time and equipment needed to haul away loads.

Original article and accompanying video found here: http://www.wbrz.com/news/lot-attracting-pests-for-sale-set-for-demolition

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Adjudicated properties in New Orleans available for auction

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) –

The City of New Orleans will make more than 185 properties in the parish available for auction starting Tuesday. It’s part of the city’s push to reduce blight and bring vacant properties back into commerce.

When property taxes are not paid and become delinquent, the city holds tax sales for these properties. Unsold properties at a tax sale are adjudicated to the City of New Orleans. After three years, the city can offer the full title of these properties for sale at auction.

The properties were previously offered in tax sales with no bidders and have reached the three-year threshold. The properties will now be offered with full titles.

According to a release from the city, it has returned 770 properties to commerce and brought in over $14.5 million through its adjudicated property auction program. Additionally, 89 adjudicated properties were redeemed by homeowners returning $2.8 million in delinquent taxes to the City. The adjudicated properties that have failed to sell at a previous tax sale are now being offered to investors at a starting bid of the property’s closing costs. All properties come with full ownership and title insurance.

Here’s how the process works.Investors can nominate these properties for auction, along with any of the 900 properties currently listed, by placing an $850 deposit at CivicSource.com.

Once legal compliance work is completed, nominated properties will be scheduled for the next available auction, which takes place online the first Wednesday of each month. Current owners of adjudicated properties will be notified as the auction draws near so they can choose to pay taxes and fees owed on a property to cancel the sale.

The City and CivicSource will host a series of community information sessions during the month of August to provide comprehensive training on all aspects of purchasing adjudicated property with title insurance. The events are free and open to the public. To RSVP for any of the following information sessions, please visit events.CivicSource.com.

• Tuesday, August 1 at 6:30 p.m.
   Propeller Incubator – 4035 Washington Ave., New Orleans, LA 70125

• Wednesday, August 2 at 6:30 p.m.
   New Orleans Public Library – 219 Loyola Ave., New Orleans, LA 70112

• Tuesday, August 22 at 6:30 p.m.
   This session will be in both English and Spanish
   Mid-City Library – 4140 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70119

For more details you can log on to the City of New Orleans’ website at www.nola.gov

Copyright 2017 WVUE. All rights reserved.

View original article here.

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Reserve Your Seat Today: St. Martin Parish Information Session for Purchasing Adjudicated Real Estate

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017, CivicSource and St. Martin Parish Government will hold a community information session for purchasing adjudicated real estate at 6:00 p.m. at St. Martin Parish Council Chambers located at 301 West Port Street St. Martinville, LA 70582. If you would like to attend the info session, email your RSVP to RSVP@CivicSource.com and specify St. Martin Parish.