Auctions being held to liquidate convicted landlord's belongings

To say that convicted landlord Robert Miell was acquisitive would be an understatement.

Besides owning more than 450 Linn County rental properties, Miell owned 17 cheap, dusty stereo systems, more than 40 hammers, eight bins full of footballs, basketballs and soccer balls and, in auctioneer speak, hundreds of other items too numerous to mention.

Those and other mundane items sold Wednesday in the first of several sales ordered by Bankruptcy Court to repay Miell's creditors.

Keith Lacy of Marion, one of several hundred bidders and spectators at Backes Auction Center in Raymond, said he thought many of the items once belonged to some of Miell's tenants, many of whom alleged that Miell had fraudulently withheld all or part of their damage deposits.

Bankruptcy Trustee Renee Hanrahan said she's not so sure of that. “He was a buyer, a real collector,” she said.

Wednesday's sale bill included “stuff you would find in anyone's garage, times 10,” said Rod Backes, one of the auction company's proprietors.

Co-proprietor Randy Backes said it would take “seven or eight sales over the next three weeks” to liquidate Miell's extensive and exotic personal belongings.

The good stuff, which includes collectible guitars signed by members of the Beatles, Hawkeye memorabilia, artwork and exquisite furniture, will be sold in a series of auctions starting Sunday, Randy Backes said.

Miell is in the Linn County Jail awaiting sentencing on two counts of tax fraud, 18 counts of mail fraud and two counts of perjury arising from a major insurance fraud case.

Hanrahan said Miell owes about $41 million to banks and about $2 million to general creditors.

The Miell auction lists can be found at

backes-auction.com