All Forum Posts by: Denise Evans

There is no form. It can be as simple as "I am now the foreclosure owner of your former property at _________________.  This is your statutory 10-day notice to vacate the property and remove all possessions you want.  If it appears you have already moved some place else, I will secure the property immediately so you cannot gain entry, but you can contact me within that 10 days and make an appointment to remove personal property and surrender your keys." 

Provide your name and address. Do your best to actually get it to the former owner.  Mail  one copy by certified mail to the property address. Maybe they have a forwarding order in place.  Mail one copy by regular mail to the property address. Post one copy on all entry doors.  If you can find them on Facebook, send them a private FB message that says the same thing.

Put a battery-operated deer camera in an inconspicuous place at the end of Day 10, so you can have proof if they come back.  Or, since you are out of state, a wireless cell service router such as Verizon, and a camera, and monitor from where you are. You can set it up so you will get a cell phone alert when the camera senses motion. Be sure to record any entry into the property after the 10 days expires.

It took a LONG time because one of the first, and figuring out exactly what the judges wanted.  There is "the law" which says what the rules are. Then there is "what judges want" which might not be in the law, but you have to do it otherwise they won't give you the order you want. 

An example, in landlord/tenant law, is the 7 Day Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure.  The "law" says it has to be 7 business days. It does not say you must TELL them it is 7 BUSINESS days. But, all the judges kind of added that requirement on their own and would not give you an eviction order unless your notice said the exact thing they wanted. 

There have been similar trial-and-error experience with tax lien foreclosures.

Yes, I know some attorneys who have been successful in foreclosing tax liens in Alabama.  You must have all of them to foreclose. No gaps.

You can sell any tax deed property. The question is, can you give a warranty deed (I would advise against that--quitclaim only) and can the buyer obtain title insurance (usually not).

Seller financing is a good way around the problem.  Be sure you disclose the possibility of outstanding redemption rights and have a mechanism to refund some portion of the payments if the property is redeemed.  Usually courts will support non-refundable portion equal to reasonable rental value of the property. That reasonable rental value can take into account poor credit score, if that is the case. People with poor credit scores pay more for things than people with great credit scores.

With 10 years of provable adverse possession, most title insurance companies will write title insurance. Otherwise, you will need a quiet title order from a court, or you will need quitclaim deeds or redemption releases from everybody who might have redemption rights.

@Lawanna Crile  Contact me and send me a copy of the Right of Redemption waiver.  It might be defective, it might not.  Just because ONE title company is nervous doesn't mean there is anything wrong.

If defective, it might be fixable.

Depending on the property, the right of redemption might be only 6 months. Depending on the notices, it might have been forfeited.

You can always sell a property with outstanding redemption rights. Depending on post-foreclosure improvements to the property, it might be too expensive to redeem.  Lots of moving parts on your question. I need more info. Thanks @Greg Parker for the heads up.

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That lienholder has lost their redemption rights if they do not redeem within 3 years of the auction (or while still on state inventory, which gives everybody for as long as it is on state inventory, even if over 3 years) or within one year of written CMRRR notice, whichever is longer.  You will still have to quiet title, though, because a title insurance company will not be CERTAIN the redemption rights are lost. They are NEVER certain unless you get quitclaim deeds from owners and releases of redemption rights from lienholders. If you are worried about the IRS, they do have a fast-track procedure for releasing redemption rights. It is paper-work intensive, but well worth the trouble.

If someone wants to redeem during the judicial period, and you agree they do have redemption rights, they do that directly through you. It does not require going to court, as long as everybody can agree (1) that person has redemption rights and (2) everybody agrees with the dollar amount for redemption. It starts with their written request for lawful charges. "Written" can include emails or text messages.  You calculate how much they owe you and they either pay it or they don't. There is a whole side trip procedure if you've made improvements to the property. I have videos on that process. Too lengthy to describe here.

If you think judicial redemption rights have expired, tell them that.  If you are not sure they have redemption rights (are they REALLY an heir, for example?) you are entitled to make them prove it to your satisfaction or file a redemption lawsuit and prove it to a court's satisfaction.  If they disagree with your statement that judicial redemption is no longer available, they can sue.  If they disagree with your numbers, they can sue. But, the system encourages people to work it out themselves and they are not required to go to court.

The bank has not transferred title to a third party yet. If attempted, the tax sale would have shown up in the title search for title insurance. On the other hand, I've known of one foreclosure sale to a third party that did not pick up the tax sale. The title insurance company had to pay off the redemption charges.  You might want to keep track of the title status.

In Alabama, if the tax sale was before the foreclosure, then the mortgage "detaches" from the property but the lender has redemption rights. 

Those redemption rights can be exercised during the 3 years post-auction period via something called administrative redemption. Depending on whether the investor has taken exclusive possession of the property or not, and for how long, the lender might have additional time, up to three years after the tax deed.  

Lenders also have a special redemption time period of one year after certified mail, return receipt requested notice from the investor regarding the tax sale and the investor's contact information.  If the notice does not even go out until 6 years after the auction, the lender still has that one year after the notice. If the notice goes out 2 years after the auction, then the lender period and the administrative period burn off at the same time.

If the tax sale was after foreclosure, the lender is treated like any other owner. They have the above redemption time periods, but NOT the special one year for lenders.

The only way to clear title of an existing lender mortgage is to file a quiet title lawsuit and hope they don't redeem during that lawsuit, or obtain a release of their redemption rights.  Otherwise, you will not be able to obtain title insurance.

If you fail to take possession of the property within three years after the tax date, the lender or owner can file a lawsuit to reclaim the property under something called the Rioprop decision, and get the property back without paying the investor anything at all. That is because the investor's statute of limitations will have expired to gain possession.  Without possession, the investor cannot legally quiet title. 

When I talk about the "investors" possession, I mean the current holder of the tax sale rights plus any prior owners of tax sale rights. Their possession  is "tacked" together to reach the requisite time periods.

Hi folks, Peter provided me with some additional information. Just FYI, this was my advice:

So, if I understand this correctly, using some example numbers:

Tenant paid a $1,000 security deposit, equal to one month’s rent.

Tenant failed to pay $2,000 for last two months’ rent.

There was another $1,000 in damage.

Tenant vacated voluntarily.

PM sent out letter that said, “Your security deposit will not be refunded because we applied it as a $1,000 credit against your outstanding balance of $3,000.”

There was no “you owe us another $2,000” in the letter.

There was no “pay by date” in the letter.

Is that it?

If so, you will have to sue the tenant for the remaining sums due. If you do not have a waiver of exemptions in your lease, you will not be able to garnish their wages, in all likelihood, because they will be below the exemption amount.

It does not affect your ability to sue that the PM did not demand the additional money in the disposition letter. It is HIGHLY unlikely the tenant would have paid up, even if that demand were in the disposition letter.

How did your tenant get into you for two months rent without an eviction lawsuit? There should be have been a Notice of Default and Opportunity to Cure on whatever date the late charge attached for the first month’s rent. Then 7 business days during which the tenant could pay the rent and cure. Without that, an eviction lawsuit on Day 8 and a default judgment 7 calendar days after that. What happened?