Probate Judge Office Failed to Record AlabamaTax Deed
Hello to all! I wanted to ask if anyone has ever experienced not having a tax deed recorded by the Probate Judge's office? We called today to inquire about a replacement tax certificate on a property our dad (now deceased) bought in a tax sale in 2017. To make this a short summary, was initially told the property had been redeemed in 2016. When questioned why was it sold in 2017 at the tax sale she said she would check and call back. She then called saying they had the tax certificate there but there was a tax deed made for our father as well as the original homeowner. We questioned how two people could get a tax deed to the property when we had been paying the property taxes since 2017. She had to check into it and we got yet another call. (I am not making this up, lol) She called back and said she didn't know how that happened unless it was a mistake as they were changing to a new system in 2020. (The year my dad was due the tax deed) She went on to say she didn't know why the tax deed wasn't recorded but felt "it must have gotten shuffled into some other papers during the change over in 2020". She said she would be happy to record it but it would cost us about $100. My question is this, are tax deeds automatically prepared in advance before the tax certificate is turned in or at the time the purchaser turns in the certificate and requests a tax deed? What should we ask if she records the tax deed, say for 02/10/2026 and not at the time the certificate was turned in during 2020?
Thanks!
M Harper