Receivers · Secured Lenders · Counsel
Receivership Liquidation: A Defensible Sale and a Record the Court Can Read
A receiver's authority comes from an order, and every disposition taken under it has to survive review by the court, the secured creditor, and eventually whoever objects. KD Auctions serves as auctioneer and appraiser on receivership engagements, delivering USPAP-compliant valuations, a documented commercially reasonable marketing record, and per-lot settlement accounting that drops straight into your report to the court. We are onsite within 48 to 72 hours of engagement.
The Receiver's First Problem Is Custody, Not Price
Recovery is the second question. The first is whether the estate still has what the order says it has, and whether anyone can later argue it was allowed to deteriorate on your watch.
On arrival we document the premises as found: photographs, serial numbers, make and model, meter or hour readings, condition notes, and what is visibly missing against whatever inventory exists. That baseline is what answers a waste claim eight months later, and it is worth more than any single tactic we apply to the sale itself.
From there we address preservation practically. Power and climate control for anything that degrades unpowered, coolant and way oil on idle machine tools, dehumidification for controls and spindles, secured access with a controlled key list, and confirmation that insurance is in force naming the receivership. Equipment that sat unpowered through a season sells for materially less than the same equipment kept warm, and that delta lands on the estate.
Documentation Built for the File, Not for the Marketing Deck
Every engagement produces a complete record, delivered in a form your counsel can attach:
Inventory of record. Serialized, photographed, condition-noted, and reconciled line by line against final results.
Appraisal. Stated methodology, stated value definitions, stated intended use and intended users, signed by an AMEA-certified appraiser under USPAP.
Marketing record. What was published, on which platforms, on what dates, to which audiences, with the campaign artifacts themselves retained rather than merely summarized.
Bidder record. Registration data, terms of sale accepted, and per-lot bidding history showing whether competition actually occurred.
Settlement statement. Gross proceeds, buyer's premium collected, itemized expenses, and net to the receivership estate, tied lot by lot back to the original inventory.
Our marketing is produced in house, so nothing arrives on the estate's bill as a subcontractor markup, and the artifacts are ours to retain and produce on request.
USPAP and AMEA Appraisals for Motions, Reports, and Objections
Receivership valuation is not a single number. Motions to approve sale procedures, status reports, and creditor objections each want a different premise, so we deliver the ones that apply.
Orderly Liquidation Value assumes a properly marketed sale with adequate time, typically a 90 to 180 day horizon. Forced Liquidation Value assumes a constrained, time-limited disposition, typically 30 to 60 days, which is what a short order period actually produces. Fair Market Value applies where continued operation or a going-concern sale is on the table. Reporting both OLV and FLV, and stating plainly which one the order's timeline supports, is frequently what makes a proposed process defensible rather than merely optimistic.
Our appraisals are AMEA-certified, USPAP-compliant, and accepted by lenders, courts, and the IRS. Desktop and onsite formats are both available, with expedited turnaround when a hearing date requires it.
Commercially Reasonable, and Provable
The standard is not difficult to meet. It is difficult to prove after the fact if nobody built the record while it was happening.
A disposition conducted in a recognized market, at current market prices, in conformity with reasonable commercial practice, is the target. What makes it provable is evidence: the breadth of published notice, the number of registered and qualified bidders, competitive bidding history showing genuine price discovery lot by lot, arm's length purchasers, and disclosure of any interested-party bid rather than discovery of one. We market every sale to our 500,000+ industry contacts and retain the campaign record, so the answer to "what did you do to find a buyer" is a document rather than a recollection.
The Proceedings We Work In
We take appointments and engagements across state court equity receiverships, federal equity receiverships, rents and profits receiverships where equipment sits on the property, lender-nominated receiverships, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and post-judgment enforcement. We also work landlord lockout and tenant abandonment matters, which raise many of the same custody and documentation questions on a shorter clock.
We are not lawyers and we do not give legal advice. We work at the direction of the receiver and counsel, we do not interpret the order, and where the order is ambiguous about scope or authority we flag it and stop rather than proceed on an assumption.
Working Against the Court's Calendar
Order compliance drives the schedule, not our preference. We handle the logistics of notice, publication, and inspection windows, coordinate around adjournments and continuances, and report on a cadence your counsel sets rather than one we impose.
Where the order allows a properly marketed sale, a managed auction runs 6 to 10 weeks and is nearly always the higher-recovery path. Where the order or the estate's cash position will not support that, an outright purchase produces an offer in 24 to 72 hours, funds typically 3 to 7 days after acceptance, and removal in 1 to 2 weeks. We will document the tradeoff in writing so the choice, and the reason for it, is part of the record too.
Credentials & Standing
Licensed and bonded.
Auctioneer licensed and bonded in every state that requires it.
Court-accepted appraisals.
AMEA-certified and USPAP-compliant, accepted by lenders, courts, and the IRS.
Industry membership.
MDNA, AMEA, NAA, and NABT.
Insured and documented.
Professional liability and errors and omissions coverage, with credential and insurance documentation available on request.
Related services:
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can KD serve as the auctioneer under a receivership order?
Yes. We are regularly engaged by receivers and by counsel to act as auctioneer for receivership estates, and we are auctioneer licensed and bonded in every state that requires it. We work within the four corners of the order, coordinate any required application or retention paperwork with your counsel, and confirm scope in writing before mobilizing. If the order is silent or ambiguous on something material, we raise it rather than assume it.
What documentation do you provide for the receiver's report?
A serialized inventory of record with photographs and condition notes, the appraisal with full methodology, the complete marketing record including retained campaign artifacts, bidder registration and terms of sale, per-lot bidding history, and a settlement statement showing gross proceeds, buyer's premium, itemized expenses, and net to the estate, reconciled line by line against the inventory. Everything is delivered in a form suitable for attachment to a filing.
How do you establish that the sale was commercially reasonable?
By building the evidence while the sale happens rather than reconstructing it afterward. We market to our 500,000+ industry contacts across email, digital, print, and video, publish on recognized industry platforms, and retain proof of what ran and when. The bidder registration data and per-lot bidding history then demonstrate that actual price discovery occurred, which is the part a summary of effort cannot show.
Can you appraise the assets and also sell them?
Often yes, and it is common practice, but it has to be handled transparently. We disclose the dual role to the receiver and to counsel, and the appraisal is prepared under USPAP with the intended use and intended users stated on its face. Where the order, the secured creditor, or an objecting party wants demonstrable independence, we will take one role and refer the other rather than create an issue that outlives the sale.
How quickly can you mobilize on a receivership?
We are typically onsite within 48 to 72 hours of engagement, and faster where premises need to be secured or assets are at risk. That first visit establishes the custody baseline, identifies preservation needs, and produces enough information for a preliminary value range. Formal appraisals follow on the timeline your hearing schedule requires, including expedited turnaround.
What happens if a third party claims some of the equipment is theirs?
It happens on nearly every engagement: leased machines, consigned tooling, customer-owned fixtures, and equipment subject to a purchase money security interest. We flag and physically segregate anything with an ownership question, document it separately in the inventory, and hold it out of the sale until the receiver and counsel resolve title. We do not sell contested assets on a judgment call.
Are you licensed, bonded, and insured?
KD Auctions is auctioneer licensed and bonded in every state that requires it, and carries professional liability and errors and omissions coverage. Our appraisers are AMEA-certified and work under USPAP, and our appraisals are accepted by lenders, courts, and the IRS. We are members of MDNA, AMEA, NAA, and NABT, and full credential and insurance documentation is available on request.
Every Deal Is Different.
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