Auction of mortgaged properties during bankruptcy

Question

We have a house rule - No form of trade/deal is allowed between players. If someone wishes to sell anything - an auction has to be held always and the property goes to the highest bidder.

There are 3 players in the game. One player lands on my property and has to pay me rent but has no cash and all his properties have been mortgaged. Is he allowed to hold an auction for his mortgaged property to gather cash to avoid bankruptcy? (officially I know under standard rules he could have made trades with the 3rd player to avoid bankruptcy but that is not possible)

I am inclined to think that since the bank bars us from collecting rent on the mortgaged properties an auction of mortgaged properties also doesn't make sense to me.

So to summarize - Can the player who is about to go bankrupt - legally put his mortgaged property card at the center of the board and hold an auction?

Answer 1

Since the "no trading/selling" rule is your own house rule, you're going to have to determine this yourself.

My own opinion is that you should probably allow the auctioning off of mortgaged property.

Why? Because the only thing the standard rules say you can't sell is improved properties (property with houses/hotels). It explicitly allows the selling/trading of mortgaged property, after which the "interest" on the mortgage comes due.

From the offical Hasbro rules book (pdf):

SELLING PROPERTY… Unimproved properties, railroads and utilities (but not buildings) may be sold to any player as a private transaction for any amount the owner can get; however, no property can be sold to another player if buildings are standing on any properties of that color-group.

and later under "Mortgages":

The player who mortgages property retains possession of it and no other player may secure it by lifting the mortgage from the Bank. However, the owner may sell this mortgaged property to another player at any agreed price. If you are the new owner, you may lift the mortgage at once if you wish by paying off the mortgage plus 10% interest to the Bank. If the mortgage is not lifted at once, you must pay the Bank 10% interest when you buy the property and if you lift the mortgage later you must pay the Bank an additional 10% interest as well as the amount of the mortgage.

So since your "bank auction" is your house-rule substitute for selling directly, it only makes sense to maintain the same conditions, and allow auctioning of mortgaged property.

Answer 2

Your question.

Can the player who is about to go bankrupt - legally put his mortgaged property card at the center of the board and hold an auction?

Short answer from Hasbro:

... it is illegal to auction off property when someone owes another player.

Long answer, from Hasbro's Global Consumer Care Representative

Note. Hasbro own the copyright on Monopoly and are therefore the ultimate authority on rules in the game.

Yes, it is illegal to auction off property when someone owes another player.

Try to raise money. If you owe money and can't pay, try to raise money by selling buildings back to the Bank and/or mortgaging properties.

Selling Buildings Sell Hotels to the Bank for half the cost price and exchange them immediately for 4 Houses. Sell Houses to the Bank for half the cost price. Houses must be sold evenly across the colour set.

Mortgaging Property To mortgage a property, you must first sell all buildings in its colour set to the Bank at half their cost price. To mortgage, turn the Title Deed card face down and collect the mortgage value on the back from the Bank. To repay a mortgage, pay the unmortgage cost to the Bank (mortgage value +10%); then, turn the card face up.

If you're still in debt, you are bankrupt and out of the game!

Do you owe another player? Give them any Get Out of Jail Free cards you have, and all your mortgaged properties. The new owner must immediately either:

• repay the mortgage (pay the Bank the unmortgage cost), or
• keep the mortgage (just pay the Bank 10% of the mortgage value now).
  Do you owe the Bank?

Return all your properties to the Bank.

Any mortgages are cancelled.

All your properties must immediately be putup for auction.

Return any Get Out of Jail Free cards to the bottom of the pile.
The remaining players keep playing until there is only one person left in the game - the winner!

Again, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to reach out to us.

I hope you have a fun day!

Kind regards,

Rochonda Global Consumer Care Representative

Customer By CSS Web (Robert Miller) (08/26/2020 02:24 PM)

Hello, Is it legal for a player who is facing bankruptcy to another player, to auction off his properties in order to avoid bankruptcy?

Question Reference #200826-000598 • Date Created: 08/26/2020 02:24 PM • Date Last Updated: 11/10/2020 06:13 PM • Status: Solved [---001:001949:01623---]