Rental Property Investor · south Alabama · Member since 2018 · 121 posts · 88 votes
I bought my first tax deed this morning at the courthouse auction. I’m going to refer to the owner of the property as ‘Mr. Larry’.
Mr. Larry was delinquent on three different properties, and I purchased the deed to one of them. After doing a bit of research I see now that Mr. Larry died June 2017. I am assuming the properties were left to his family members, since they are still living in all three of them. The total taxes for the property I bid on was $458, and due to a counter bid I ended up paying $1100.
I’m trying to figure out where to go from here since from my researching it seems the sale is likely void. Should I contact the tax assessors office tomorrow to try to get a refund of my money, or should I just let it play out and try to do an ejection after 6 months? Surely Mr. Larry’s sons got the tax notices since they are living at the address listed on the bill. I’m not exactly sure how I can claim possession if the sale was void?
JD, CCIM , Real Estate Broker · Tuscaloosa, AL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Warren Currier, @William W., Mr. Currier's advice probably works well in Massachusetts, but not Alabama. There is no Treasurer of the Town. You contact the county tax assessor's office, or the revenue commissioner, depending on the county. They were not lame in doing their job. They have no responsibility to figure out who died, who got foreclosed on, who sold their property etc. The new owners are responsible for notifying the tax assessor's office. Leaving a bad review will blow back on you, show you don't understand the process, and make enemies at the county level. They don't have a problem. This is a simple administrative matter that comes up often. Don't stress about it. Please read MY advice. I am the recognized expert in ALABAMA tax sales law, policies, and procedures.
About a week after sending a certified letter to the heir threatening an ejection lawsuit, I got a call from the tax collector’s office saying the owner wanted to redeem. We had to both meet at the courthouse to sign the affidavit, which was a little awkward. They claimed they were out of town a lot after the funeral and that someone was stealing their mail, so they weren’t notified.
Asheville, NC · Member since 2017 · 170 posts · 242 votes
8y
I wanted to add to this because I read a ton on the subject when buying in a similar tax sale situation in North Carolina. Obviously, different states and different processes, but ... in N.C. tax sales can be challenged by the heirs in court if they weren’t properly notified. Tax office doesn’t seem terribly bothered by proper notifications after the fact.
Most counties try to properly notify all owners to avoid this. But I suspect in most cases, when the heirs can’t pay the taxes, they can’t pay 50k+ upfront for retainers for the lawyers to challenge the sale. So, moot point if it’s a buy and hold, but improper notification could present a title issue during resale. A few dollars for a quit claim would surely fix it. (In N.C. they only have a year to challenge anyway).
I think what happened was I told them on the phone I would be there in 20 minutes to sign the affidavit, and I think they must have called the redeemer and told them I was on my way so that we could both sign at the same time. I won’t make that mistake again. For about ten minutes I had no idea the woman I was sitting next to was the redeemer. What I did not like, was when the clerk called out my home address and asked me “is this still a good address for you”... I had used a PO Box address on my letter and preferred to keep my home address private.
@William W. Hi I was wondering what ever happened with the property with the deceased owner. @Denise Evans I was sent a deed for a property owned by the state of Alabama since 2014. The owner died in 2006. None of the heirs have responded to my letters. I would like to put a trailer on the lot and rent it out. If I'm not going to sell the lot, does it matter about the deceased owner or does that only come into play when I try to sell it? If I decide to sell it in 10 years and the heirs contest it, is there some kind of occupancy/possession law on my side for having occupied the land (even if erroneously?) for so many years?
JD, CCIM , Real Estate Broker · Tuscaloosa, AL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y
for Mobile County, that was a void tax sale. You will have to get your ejectment order to be completely safe, or pay off one of the heirs to let you take possession peaceably, and then wait out three years of exclusive and continuous possession (which means someone actually on the property using it, usually a tenant) before you have adversely possessed it and "cured" the void tax sale. It is similar to the regular 10-year adverse possession after color of title, except only 3 years after a void tax sale.
One of the heirs eventually caught up on the taxes after I sent a somewhat threatening letter. They claimed they never received a tax bill. One thing I found out is that Escambia County is totally clueless on these things. There was another property I where the owners redeemed and I was never called to sign anything, I didn't even know they redeemed until I got a check in the mail.