Opinion ID: 2208607
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Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedures Followed in the Foreclosure Sale.

Text: The Diers challenge several aspects of the foreclosure sale. First, they contend that en masse bidding was repudiated by the enactment of Iowa Code section 654.16. The Diers also challenge the procedures which the sheriff followed in conducting the en masse sale. Finally, the Diers claim that the sheriff improperly platted the real estate and failed to obtain the consent of the Diers before accepting en masse bids. We disagree with the Diers' claim that section 654.16 repudiates the practice of en masse bidding. Section 654.16 expressly allows the en masse sale of homestead and nonhomestead property: If the homestead is not sold separately, but rather is sold in conjunction with the nonhomestead property in order to satisfy the judgment,.... Iowa Code § 654.16 (1987) (emphasis added). When there is an en masse sale of homestead and nonhomestead property, the sale procedures set forth in Prudential Insurance Co. v. Westfall, 219 Iowa 1119, 1132-36, 260 N.W. 344 (1935), apply. These procedures do not effect the mortgagor's ability to separately redeem the homestead under Iowa Code section 654.16. In Westfall, 219 Iowa at 1132-36, 260 N.W. at 349, we held that nonhomestead property should be offered before the homestead property in a foreclosure sale. If a sufficient bid is not received for the nonhomestead property, then the homestead tract may be offered separately. Id., 260 N.W. at 349. If the aggregate of the bids remains insufficient to satisfy the judgment, all of the property may be sold en masse. Id., 260 N.W. at 349. Westfall stands for the proposition that the homestead should be preserved if its value is not needed to satisfy the judgment. Here, the sheriff offered each of the parcels separately and received no bids. Only when the property was offered en masse did the sheriff receive a bid. The Diers also claim that the sheriff improperly platted the land and did not obtain consent from the Diers prior to offering the entire parcel for an en masse bid. We find these claims to be without merit. They urge the sheriff's sale to be set aside because the sheriff failed to designate the homestead plat. The sheriff complied with the platting instructions presented to him by the Diers. It was not necessary for the sheriff to plat the homestead as provided by Iowa Code section 561.5 when the mortgagors have filed a plan of division which included the homestead as a separate tract. The sheriff also complied with the procedural requirements for an en masse sale of land as outlined in Westfall, 219 Iowa 1119, 1132-36, 260 N.W. 344, 349. A sale will not be set aside if the sheriff has substantially complied with the procedures established for a foreclosure sale. See Travelers Ins. Co. v. Brooks, 224 Iowa 170, 172-73, 276 N.W. 617, 618-19 (1937). The sheriff platted the land in the manner directed by the Diers pursuant to Iowa Code section 626.84 (1985), and offered the land en masse only after each parcel had been offered individually. The Diers and their attorney were present at the sale and made no objections at that time. The procedures followed in this case were in substantial compliance with the procedures established for conducting a foreclosure sale. See Iowa Code § 561.5; Westfall, 219 Iowa at 1132-36, 260 N.W. at 349.