@Kristen Jackson Yes, I am familiar with this in Fulton County. It means that the property owner did not pay their taxes for that year, after which the Tax Commissioner, Mr. Ferdinand, filed a lien on the property for unpaid taxes (known as a fi fa or fieri facias) and then sold that lien to an investor for the full amount of taxes owed. Mr. Ferdinand now considers that year's tax paid, and it is up to the lienholder to to collect from the property owner. If the property owner does not pay off the lien, the lienholder has the right to order the Sheriff to auction the property on the Courthouse steps. If you are interested in buying this property, the seller will need to pay these liens off at closing (including penalties and interest) to be able to convey clean title. The closing attorney will facilitate these payments. If the unpaid liens are more than the property is worth, it will be tough to get a deal done unless the seller can somehow convince the lien holder to take a loss. If you want to find out who owns the lien, you can search the lien books at the County Courthouse or online at www.gsccca.org.
It usually means that someone purchased/paid the County tax lien. The only counties I am aware of that sell their FIFA liens to investors are Fulton County and Gwinnett. If the property went to tax foreclosure, then the purchaser of the Tax Deed paid the FIFA and the owner now is able to redeem the property with a 20% surcharge. If you give me the details I can look it up. Hope that helps.
@Kristen Jackson Yes, I am familiar with this in Fulton County. It means that the property owner did not pay their taxes for that year, after which the Tax Commissioner, Mr. Ferdinand, filed a lien on the property for unpaid taxes (known as a fi fa or fieri facias) and then sold that lien to an investor for the full amount of taxes owed. Mr. Ferdinand now considers that year's tax paid, and it is up to the lienholder to to collect from the property owner. If the property owner does not pay off the lien, the lienholder has the right to order the Sheriff to auction the property on the Courthouse steps. If you are interested in buying this property, the seller will need to pay these liens off at closing (including penalties and interest) to be able to convey clean title. The closing attorney will facilitate these payments. If the unpaid liens are more than the property is worth, it will be tough to get a deal done unless the seller can somehow convince the lien holder to take a loss. If you want to find out who owns the lien, you can search the lien books at the County Courthouse or online at www.gsccca.org.
@Trining R. Thank you for the valuable info. So let me see if I'm understanding clearly, basically an investor already has the property and it wouldn't be able to be wholesaled correct?
It can still be wholesaled but the numbers have to make sense for an investor to buy. To remove the tax deed lien you would have to factor in the amount paid for the FIFA plus the 20% to redeem the property. Not the delinquent taxes owed, but the actual amount the investor paid plus 20%. I have seen it done if the numbers work, it just all depends.
@Kristen Jackson There is another scenario in which the Tax Commissioner sells all delinquent liens to an investor company, like In Fulton county, to make all taxes current. The investor company usually wants the delinquent taxes owed plus interest and fees. Either way, to wholesale you would have to factor in the lien and fees associated, but it can still be done if asking price is discounted enough.
Best thing will be to make contact with the lienholder so you know what amount is required to clear their lien.
@Kristen Jackson the owner is still the owner until the redemption time has expired or Quiet title action has been completed. In GA, investor has to wait at least a year after the sale before they can do anything with the property.
@Kristen Jackson The original owners still own the property. The lienholder can order the Sheriff to auction off the property on the courthouse steps, but even if that happens, the buyer of the tax deed can't set foot on the property for a year. So, you have plenty of time to work with the original owner if they are willing to work with you!
I actually just put up a lengthy post about the tax collection process and how to buy tax deeds in Fulton County. It is complicated but I tried to spell everything out in detail.
@Kristen JacksonI agree with @Trining R. that the tax lien is something to keep in mind when wholesaling, but I want to clarify that it would be paid at closing out of the seller's proceeds just like a mortgage or other lien.
For example:
Contract purchase price - $100,000
Outstanding tax lien - $25,000 (paid out of escrow by closing attorney)
Net proceeds to seller - $75,000 (minus any other closing costs)
This becomes problematic when the outstanding tax lien exceeds the market value of the property. In this case there is no incentive for the owner to sell because she would have to CONTRIBUTE cash at the closing table.
Also, there may be some confusion between a tax lien (which appears to be present in your case) and a tax deed, which exists when the property has already been sold off at auction. It is the tax deed that carries the 20% redemption premium. Tax liens have a separate structure of interest and fees, and the lien holder will be more than happy to provide a payoff statement in advance of closing. In Fulton County, Vesta Holdings is by far the largest lien buyer.
I totally agree with you @Dan Mahoney I wasn't sure which one she was dealing with. For some reason DeKalb county uses Assignments of The FIFA to the purchasing investor after selling at Tax Sale which is sometimes confusing when trying to follow the Title. Thank you for reminding me of Vesta Holdings. I couldn't remember the name.
Hi @Bruce Edwards. If there is an upcoming sale it will be posted on the county Tax commissioner site. I am not too familiar about Fulton County but I know Gwinnett usually holds there’s in the Spring - Summer months, 1st Tuesday. They usually stop in the colder months but you can always check. Let me know if you need some assistance.
In Fulton County the Sheriff posts the list on his website around the middle of each month. December 2017 was recently posted but the URL stays the same.
Quick question. If the property has been sold at auction and the original owner is still within the 1 year redemption period, is there a way to receive excess funds back if the property is redeemed? For example, if the property was auctioned off for $50,000 but the back taxes were $12,000, would that $38,000 be available to be recovered through the Fulton County Sheriff's excess funds application process? Thanks
Hey Ivan. In Georgia, Excess Funds are able to be claimed if there are no other liens holding priority. I have not worked excess funds in Fulton county but I have in others and other states.
If you can find a good Attorney willing to be paid on a contingency basis, some counties file an interpleader for all excess funds claims and since the banks don’t usually show up, you win.
Hello, Everyone My name is Raven Griffin and i am a realtor. i was hoping that someone could help enlighten me on how to get information about home owners who are delinquent on their property taxes.. Name, Addresses , how many years delinquent and how much they are behind in property taxes. i thank everyone in advance and have a great day
I know this is an old thread but I pass this one house everyday that's pretty much covered up by trees and other growth. Finally was able to get the address and the lady died in 2008 but the tax info doesn't reflect who bought the lien. The taxes have been paid from 2012 to 2018. Seems like they would have updated the new owner by now or am I missing something? Please point me in the right direction because this is a prime piece of real estate in Roswell.
I know this is an old thread but i just found out my property had FIFA/TRANSFERRED SOLD when I actually logged into the site to pay my damn taxes.
I went to gsccca.org but this website is so damn convoluted I can't figure out how to search it to see who owns the lien and I haven't received anything in the mail.