Pair reclaims land at sale
Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008
ASH FLAT — At an auction Thursday, the commissioner of state lands sought to collect $ 16, 000 in unpaid property taxes owed on land linked to developer Wayne Watkins, but at the end of the sale, the state had netted only $ 2, 000 in taxes.
Watkins’ parcels accounted for 59 of the 403 for sale in Sharp County. Of the 62 parcels that sold, 11 were connected with him. These are typical results, auctioneer Grant Grigg explained. Unsold parcels remain with the state until the owner of record reclaims them or a sale is made.
Some of the people who attended the auction sell real estate for a living, but one couple was just trying to reclaim property the two felt was lost through no fault of their own.
Watkins sold and financed hundreds of parcels of land using installment land-sales contracts, promising to put the property in the buyers’ names once they paid for the land in full.
Many buyers, including Steve and Susan Thornton, have said Watkins or his salesmen also promised to pay the property taxes until the land was put in their names. The taxes went unpaid as Watkins’ real estate businesses collapsed after he defaulted on $ 2. 6 million in loans.
“We do have an interest in the land now,” Susan Thornton said after she and husband successfully bid on the land they thought they’d lost for good. They bid the minimum $ 500 each on their two parcels plus an additional $ 500 each on two adjacent parcels.
“Legally,” her husband Steve Thornton added, laughing.
The Gassville couple had long been “interested” in what happened to the 9. 8 acres of hunting land, but until now, they had no legal claim to it because Watkins never filed a sales contract identifying them as owners at the Sharp County Courthouse.
“We’ve got our name on the lot now,” Susan Thornton said.
In the moments before they made their bids, the Thorntons weren’t so sure that would happen.
As auctioneer Grant Grigg began calling out Watkins’ Spring River Beach Club parcels, Susan Thornton was literally shaking from nerves every time bidder No. 4 raised his finger.
Grigg already had called six Beach Club parcels. Each time, the man sitting two rows in front of the Thorntons won the parcel at the minimum bid.
“We were worried,” said Steve Thornton.
They did not know that the man was Gregg Griffin, the son of Watkins’ cousin and business partner Virgil Griffin. Virgil Griffin sat beside his son throughout the auction, during which Gregg Griffin bid a total of $ 5, 250 on seven parcels.
Bidders must make a minimum offer equal to 20 percent of the property’s market value plus pay the back taxes.
Also nearby was another of Watkins’ former business partners, Howard Baswell, who said he often buys land at tax auctions but did not do so this year. He, along with Watkins, Virgil Griffin and associate Clifton Johnson, has been sued by the state attorney general for deceptive practices related to Watkins ’ failed land deals.
Asked after the auction about the parcels his son bought, Virgil Griffin first said, “buying back land I used to own.” He immediately followed up by saying he had no comment and “I didn’t buy no land today.” (Gregg Griffin was the only person registered as bidder No. 4. )
As he walked away, Virgil Griffin complained that much of what he has read since the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ran its two-part series in May detailing the collapse of Watkins’ developments was “half true,” though he did not say what was untrue.
Baswell complained that he’s read “so much hearsay” about his former business partner, whom he maintains never intended to “scam” anyone.
The newspaper, Baswell said, should not report that Watkins and his salesmen told prospective buyers that Watkins would pay the property taxes on land he sold under installment sales contracts until the contract was paid in full.
It’s not that the people who have claimed that are “liars,” Baswell said.
“I think they misunderstood,” he said.
But the Thorntons and many others have said repeatedly that salesmen assured them Watkins would pay the taxes. Steve Thornton said the contract he signed stating that the buyer was responsible for the taxes was not the same one that was read to him and his wife.
Like many others, the Thorntons were surprised to learn the property they thought they were buying had been certified to the land commissioner for back taxes.
But the tax auction has given the Thorntons a chance of owning those parcels again, though they aren’t letting themselves get too excited. Despite having the winning bids, they know some hurdles to ownership may remain.
If there are any liens on their property — at this point they have every reason to believe there are — the lien holder has 30 days to pay the back taxes. If that happens, the Thorntons’ auction money will be refunded.
The couple then would have to try to work something out with the bank that held the lien or give up on their efforts to salvage their investment.
“If there are liens,” Steve Thornton said before they left the community center where the auction was held, “we’ll have to deal with that.”
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