7

When you go bankrupt to the bank, all of your properties are returned to the bank and auctioned.

Rule :

Should you owe the Bank, instead of another player, more than you can pay (because of taxes or penalties) even by selling off buildings and mortgaging property, you must turn over all assets to the Bank. In this case, the Bank immediately sells by auction all property so taken, except buildings.

Source : The Rules of Monopoly - Hasbro

If you have surrendered several properties to the bank, in what order are they auctioned, one at a time: by order of value, or randomly?

Since the rules don't specify this, in the answer, I would appreciate an authoritative quote (e.g. tournament experience, book author), not just an opinion or house rule.

1
  • 2
    I grant that the wording is ambiguous, but the intent seems to be that the property is auctioned off as a single lot, not as individual pieces.
    – Sneftel
    Jan 28, 2020 at 12:20

1 Answer 1

4

The following ruling was received from Hasbro, publisher of Monopoly and organiser of International Monopoly Tournaments. I have therefore completely rewritten this answer.

My questions to Hasbro :

The rules of Monopoly state that when a players goes bankrupt to the bank, the player turns all assets over to the Bank. The Bank then auctions off these properties.

Are all of the properties auctioned off at once as a single lot?

If they are auctioned one at a time, in what order are they auctioned? By value or randomly selected?

Hasbro agent's answers:

1. Are all of the properties auctioned off at once as a single lot?

No. All properties should be auctioned off one at a time.

2. If they are auctioned one at a time, in what order are they auctioned? By value or randomly selected?

No specific order needed . The banker can randomly select. I have also included the proper way to hold a Monopoly Auction just in case it's needed. There is nothing terribly special with the process of holding the auction, just a few simple rules.

When a property comes up for auction, whether a player declines to purchase or a player goes bankrupt, the banker holds the auction.

There is no minimal bid so the starting price will always be $1 and the property will goes to the highest bidder and the price is binding. So if a player bids more than they have they can unintentionally bankrupt themselves during the auction.

The auctioned property cannot be mortgaged by the highest bidder in order to complete the purchase.

Important Note: All players can participate in property auctions – this includes the banker, any players who may be in jail, and the person who originally declined to purchase the property in the first place.

3
  • Interesting, that different sources disagree on this subject. There are so many versions of monopoly, but still no complete set of rules without mismatches or gaps. Mar 2, 2020 at 14:32
  • I completely replaced the previous answer with the own from Hasbro. Mar 5, 2020 at 16:54
  • The Hasbro agent's answer may be out of date. The rulebook on Hasbro's website (copyright 2017) specifies the bidding starts at $10, not $1, though players may increase the bid by $1. Nov 9, 2022 at 21:23

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .