And most buyers probably won't want to leave their decisions on where to live or when to move to the uncertainties of an auction process.

"The auction process did two things for us," he said.

In response to the court, Paramount's board set up a highly complex auction process.

"We really are checking to see if the auction process works well."

The risk in the auction process is of setting a price that will appear too high within days.

And that is where the auction process comes into play.

Moreover, the rule changes announced by the Treasury will not change the auction process much.

The seller can typically also manage an auction process however it wants.

Paramount's board has not set a meeting date, but the auction process is likely to be a delicate matter.

But the officials did not realize just how much those bidders had taken control of the auction process.