U.S. Marshals Service Loses on Commission; Entitled to Only $100 for Public Judicial Sale

The U.S. Marshals Service is entitled to a commission of $100 rather than a maximum commission of $50,000 for its facilitation of an auction in Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Dec. 19 (Redus Fla. Commercial, LLC v. Coll. Station Retail Ctr., LLC, 2014 BL 357629, 11th Cir., 13-10418, 12/19/14).

The USMS argued that the commissions statute required a commission based on the judgment lien of about $12 million, rather than the winning nominal bid. But such an interpretation would harm debtors facing deficiency judgments by incentivizing “the USMS to rubber stamp potentially ...