COUNTYWIDE : Supervisors to Consider Auction of Homes Seized

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors will be asked today to allow authorities to auction off two houses seized after their owners were charged with selling drugs.

The supervisors’ approval is needed before the homes can be auctioned on July 30 and the profits split between state and local law enforcement officials.

A minimum bid of $140,000 will be accepted for a 1,596-square-foot house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a pool in Simi Valley.

A bid of $60,000 will start the bidding for a 608-square-foot house with two bedrooms and one bathroom in Santa Paula.

After all liens are paid off, 10% of the profits from the two sales will go to the state, 13.5% will go to the district attorney’s office and the remainder will go to Ventura and Santa Paula police departments, the two agencies involved in arresting the property owners.

The minimum bids are based primarily on the liens against the properties and on the condition of the local housing market, according to county officials.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen McLaughlin said the sale would be the first house auction this year.

Last year, he said, the county seized nine houses.

“We are not behind last year,” he said. “Sometimes they just come in clusters.”

He said both properties were purchased with drug money and were used for drug-related transactions.