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I have known of small town cases where the bidding is not "sealed bid" but rather open bidding and the sales ended up being rigged. The person running the auction looks into the audience for his "designated buyer" and when the bidding starts it almost immediately ends with the "auctioneer" banging the gavel and saying "sold" and identifying his designated buyer by bidder number etc. and the property is sold for pennies on the dollar.

People saw this go on despite there being other bidders calling out bids. No "going once, going twice" out of the mouth of the "auctioneer" who many times is the sheriff. These things were long ago before video and cell phones etc. so maybe the crooked "tax sale" to benefit a pal or relative is less prevalent.

Lack of uniformity in the laws and conduct of tax foreclosure sales from jurisdiction to jurisdiction has also been a problem. In many respects it still is.