WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

judicial sale
    n 1: a sale of property by the sheriff under authority of a
         court's writ of execution in order satisfy an unpaid
         obligation [syn: sheriff's sale, execution sale,
         judicial sale, forced sale]

Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

JUDICIAL SALE. A sale by authority of some competent tribunal, by an officer
authorized by law for the purpose.
     2. The officer who makes the sale, conveys all the rights of the
defendant, or other person against whom the process has been issued, in the
property sold. Under such a sale there is no warranty, either express or
implied, of the thing sold. 9 Wheat. 616. When real estate is sold by the
sheriff or marshal, the sale is subject to the confirmation of the court, or
it may be set aside. See 4 Wash. C. C. R. 45 Wallace, 128; 4 Wash. C. C. R.
322.