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Let us imagine a situation when we play Monopoly and one of the players refused to buy a property. It was sent to auction. Auction passed succesfully, but the problem is that the winner cannot pay his/her final bid. He/she does not have enough money. And even selling houses and hotels and mortgaging properties does not help.

What do the game rules say about this situation, is it possible at all? And must players calculate their total amount of money before an auction is started? Thanks.

Alexander
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3 Answers3

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The player who cannot pay has just properly incurred, according to the Rules, a debt to the Bank that cannot be paid. That is the definition of Bankrupt.

If the player is unable to relieve the bankruptcy, then all their assets go to the Bank, which then auctions off all properties to the remaining players, as per the Official Rules for Bankruptcy.

The property originally landed on is part of the Bankruptcy Sale of the Bankrupt player's properties.

Capitalism is harsh boys and girls - no second chances in Monopoly.

Forget I was ever here
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As Forget I was ever here states, this results in the winning bidder being bankrupted to the Bank.

As an additional clarification, all funds must be raised before successfully obtaining the new property. So you are NOT entitled to mortgage the new property in order to pay for it.

This is based on the definition of Buying Property from the rules which states:

Buying Property

.... The buyer pays to the Bank the amount of the bid in cash and [then] receives the Title Deed card for that property. ....

Community
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Lee
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  • Other than "*Mortgages Unimproved properties can be mortgaged through the Bank at any time.*" I can find no relevant reference in the Rules; and the simplest interpretation for that quite is the opposite of your claim. Do you have a more specific basis for your claim? – Forget I was ever here Jan 03 '18 at 23:26
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    @Forget I was ever here, Updated my response to include relevant quotation from the rules. – Lee Jan 05 '18 at 16:55
  • Perfect; that is clear and unambiguous. I have edited to make clear that this note applies *only* to purchases through auction. – Forget I was ever here Jan 05 '18 at 16:56
  • P.S. You might check into learning MarkDown - where available (and capable), it makes formatting much simpler than with raw HTML. – Forget I was ever here Jan 05 '18 at 17:05
  • Seems to me that the sentence quoted defines how purchasing property works in general. This sentence stands on its own, so should apply to any buyer, even if there is no auction. I would generally allow person landing on the property to change their mind about purchasing the property when they realize they are short of funds, so they wouldn't go bankrupt. But I would NOT allow anyone to purchase using funds from mortgaging the property being bought. – Lee Jan 05 '18 at 17:15
  • I disagree: Your quote specifically says "amount of the bid* in cash*"; so clearly only applies to purchase by Auction. The case of purchase by right of landing is covered earlier in the paragraph. – Forget I was ever here Jan 05 '18 at 17:20
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    For the case of purchasing by landing on the property, I have added a new question: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/39708/in-monopoly-can-i-mortgage-the-property-i-land-on-in-order-raise-sufficient-fun – Lee Jan 05 '18 at 17:41
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Tournament judges may be the best referees for situations like this and even they don't agree on a single interpretation of the rules in this case.

The only area that has not yet been fully defined in tournament gameplay is what happens if a player makes a winning bid and then can not afford to pay it to the bank. Some interpret it as their bid is cancelled and the property goes to the 2nd highest bidder for the amount they bid. Others enforce it where the winning bidder must pay the amount to the bank, even if it causes them to go bankrupt.

Source : Kevin Tostado, Director of "Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story." MonopolyDocumentary.com

Quora.com Monopoly

Robert Miller
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