No sale at Gould auction

ELLSWORTH – There were no bids high enough to satisfy Bangor Savings Bank during the foreclosure auction for Dave Gould Ford in Ellsworth on Thursday morning.

The auction, which began at 11 a.m. and ended at noon, saw bidding start at $400,000 and top out in $50,000 increments at $850,000. Bangor Savings Bank, which owns the vacant property, entered a high bid of $900,000 to end the process which had not pushed the price high enough.

The 2.2 acres of property has a total assessed value of $1,184,200, according to the city of Ellsworth Web site. The property includes a 14,210-square-foot steel-framed building.

The car dealership will remain vacant for now, but the bank plans to sell the property, according to Bangor Savings Bank representative Peter Johnson.

The property’s former owner, Dave Gould, bought it in 1998 for $1,500,000, $315,800 more than what it is now worth.

The business, located at the intersection of Routes 1 and 3, closed in April after being plagued with financial problems.

Allegations of financial impropriety were brought against Gould in September after Ford Motor Credit Co., which provided capital and inventory for the dealership, filed a lawsuit claiming Gould owed the company more than $2 million.

A statement from the Secretary of State’s Office released in January claimed the dealership had committed more than 150 fraudulent acts against its customers totaling more than $288,000.

Bangor Savings Bank started the process of foreclosure in December.

An auction was held in July for items repossessed by the bank from the dealership, including engine stands, waste oil heaters and many tools.