Buying Tax Delinquent Property Owned by State

[Jamie Psmith]

Hi. I'm looking at buying a tax delinquent property listed on the Alabama revenue website.The owner is listed as a person on the state transcript of tax delinquent property list, but when I go to the county revenue website, it says the owner is the State of Al. Does that mean the owner died and the property went to the state? Would I still need to wait 3 yrs to get the deed? Could I make improvements on the property and start renting it out before the 3 years are over? Thx for your help!

[Anastasia Jordan]

Originally posted by @Jamie Psmith:

Hi. I'm looking at buying a tax delinquent property listed on the Alabama revenue website.The owner is listed as a person on the state transcript of tax delinquent property list, but when I go to the county revenue website, it says the owner is the State of Al. Does that mean the owner died and the property went to the state? Would I still need to wait 3 yrs to get the deed? Could I make improvements on the property and start renting it out before the 3 years are over? Thx for your help!

Depending on the county, they will take the owner's name off the county records as the owner and list it as being owned by the state until the taxes are paid.  Until you do a title search & investigate you won't know if the owner died or not.  You will still need to do a title search.  You could be possible penalized for waiting out the 3 years. Yes you can make improvements and rent it out but first you must gain legal possession by either asking the last title holder of record to surrender the house to you or wait 6 months then file and ejectment.