No officer of any city, town, county or constitutional officer or employee of any such city, town, county or constitutional office shall, directly or indirectly, bid on or purchase effects sold under a writ by such officer. Anyone violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
§ 8.01-498.Selling officers and employees not to bid or to purchase.
Chapter 18. Executions and Other Means of Recovery · Article 4. Enforcement Generally · Last amended 1988 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceNo city, town, or county officer or employee, and no constitutional officer or that office’s employees, may bid on or purchase, directly or indirectly, property sold under a writ by that same officer, and anyone who violates this prohibition is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Full Text of § 8.01-498
Plain-English Summary
Section 8.01-498 guards against an obvious conflict of interest: the officer conducting an execution sale, or that office’s employees, buying the property being sold. Letting the seller also be the buyer would invite manipulated bidding, suppressed prices, and self-dealing at the debtor’s and creditor’s expense.
The prohibition reaches beyond direct purchases. No officer of a city, town, county, or constitutional office, and no employee of any of those offices, may bid on or purchase the effects sold under a writ handled by that officer, whether the attempt is made directly or through someone else acting on the officer’s behalf. The General Assembly backed the rule with real consequences: anyone who violates it is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is barred from bidding on property sold at an execution sale under this section?
Any officer or employee of a city, town, county, or constitutional office who is conducting the sale.
Does the prohibition cover indirect purchases as well as direct ones?
Yes, the section bars bidding or purchasing directly or indirectly.
What is the penalty for violating this section?
Anyone violating the section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Does this section apply to any sale the officer conducts, or only certain ones?
It applies to effects sold under a writ by such officer, meaning sales the officer personally conducts pursuant to a writ.
When was the criminal penalty for this conduct added?
The history note shows amendments in 1975 and 1988 to a section originally traced to Code 1950, § 8-427.
Amendment History
Code 1950, § 8-427; 1975, c. 84; 1977, c. 617; 1988, c. 674.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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