Ala Void Tax Certificate Issue Fixed by Legislature & Governor

[Denise Evans]

The June 26, 2020 Alabama Supreme Court decision of Stiff v. Equivest struck terror in the hearts of Alabama tax certificate investors. The court held that a Bessemer tax auction, held inside the courthouse, was void because the statute required auctions be outside the door of the courthouse. Suddenly, we were facing hundreds of thousands of void tax certificates owned by investors.

Fortunately, the legislature sprang into action with SB111. It amended the law so auctions could tax place anywhere on courthouse grounds, and it made the change retroactive. This morning, Thursday April 8, 2021, Governor Ivey signed it into law. It is Alabama Act 2021-175.

All of those tax certificates are now valid again.

Rejoice!!!!!