Alabama tax sales law has changed dramatically.  SB257, which was signed into law, changes interest rates to 8%.  It might or might not be retroactive, depending on who you ask.  Procedures for improvement payments upon redemption have changed. Those might or might not be retroactive, depending on who you ask.  

Mobile County will have an online lien auction, while Shelby, Baldwin, and a few other counties will have on-site lien auctions. Most counties will still do certificate auctions rather than lien auctions.  

A new appeals court decision means tax deed owners can sue former owner for the reasonable rental value of the property as money damages, even if the former owner redeems.  

A new Jefferson County circuit court decision says all state inventory properties more than 6 years old are voidable by taxpayer, but I don't expect that decision to gain any traction with other courts.  It's a rogue decision, in my opinion.

There are other important changes. This is NOT a year to take things for granted, including what you THINK you know about Alabama tax sale investing.  Some things are good for investors, some things make investing trickier. It's a mixed bag.

You saying mobile is no longer going to have the 2 days auction in May, instead it’s going to be online? Thank you for all the information and help you provide. 

@Michael Watts , currently the plan is for Mobile County to do an online auction. They might change their minds if they run into technical problems, but I think it's probably a "go" for them. They will be using a company out of Mississippi that has pretty extensive experience.

Ok thank you. Let me know if and when you have a class on the new online auction. I will try to attend a class in mobile if you have one in May 

@Michael Watts , I'll let you know. Right now, even Mobile County is not SURE what they are going to do, so I'd hate to have people pay for a class that turns out to be not relevant after all. 

Hey thank you for this update. 
So a tax certificate holder of an occupied property can sue the owner occupant for missed market rent?

Also what do you mean by “all state inventory properties more than 6 years old are voidable by taxpayer”?

Also if a tax deed owner has held the deed since 2018 and cannot get the occupants out of the home and take possession how do the changes affect the deed holder? Does it? 

And does any one know of any law offices who has proven to be successful with ejectments? I’ve been working with the Galloway Scott Moss office (more so Moss) and it keeps dragging and cost keeps sliding. Or has anyone successfully completed this themselves?

@Shimira Greene , you can sue for rent only if you have a tax deed.  Contact me this afternoon and I'll get some info from you and see why your case is taking so long.

Does anyone know this year's tax sale date for Jefferson county in Alabama? 

@Hiren Desai , Jefferson County will be June 4.

Double post

Originally posted by @Denise Evans :

Alabama tax sales law has changed dramatically.  SB257, which was signed into law, changes interest rates to 8%.  It might or might not be retroactive, depending on who you ask.  Procedures for improvement payments upon redemption have changed. Those might or might not be retroactive, depending on who you ask.  

Mobile County will have an online lien auction, while Shelby, Baldwin, and a few other counties will have on-site lien auctions. Most counties will still do certificate auctions rather than lien auctions.  

A new appeals court decision means tax deed owners can sue former owner for the reasonable rental value of the property as money damages, even if the former owner redeems.  

A new Jefferson County circuit court decision says all state inventory properties more than 6 years old are voidable by taxpayer, but I don't expect that decision to gain any traction with other courts.  It's a rogue decision, in my opinion.

There are other important changes. This is NOT a year to take things for granted, including what you THINK you know about Alabama tax sale investing.  Some things are good for investors, some things make investing trickier. It's a mixed bag.

Any changes to possession laws? Was looking to acquire a couple for rental purposes  

@Trey Crusey , the laws changed dramatically about reimbursement for preservation improvements. It's pretty complicated, but every investor needs to understand before spending a penny on improvements.

@Denise Evans  is there still such thing as Tax Surplus being that the bidding is interst only or am I missing something?

@Denise Evans  is there still such thing as Tax Surplus being that the bidding is interst only or am I missing something?

@Steven Freeman , for the counties still doing certificate sales, you can place an overbid at the auction and receive statutory interest on that portion of your overbid that is equal to, or less than, 15% of the tax appraised value. If you are asking about the investment strategy of tracking down owners of overbid funds, claiming the money, and splitting it, that entire strategy was eradicated by a series of Supreme Court decisions and legislative changes. Now, the only way to get any overbid money is to redeem. When you redeem, you have to PAY the overbid, so getting it back does nothing for you if that is an investment strategy.