All Forum Posts by: Thomas Kramer

@Denise Evans

Does the owner have to pay me legal fees if I file an ejectment lawsuit during administrative redemption period? I was under the impression that Section 40-10-83 only applies if an ejectment lawsuit is brought by a tax deed holder (judicial redemption).

@Tai Bhattad I guess I'm lucky the city waited so long. The property already looked bad when I bought it, 18 months before they contacted me.

You're right, if other projects require a "clean record", you can't just wait and hope they'll keep their word. I'd like to know how your ejectment turns out. I'm still worried that the owner could use administrative redemption to avoid a counterclaim.

@Tai Bhattad I'd like to repair the little things now and prevent further damage. The long-term goal is possession and ownership.

What if you file your ejectment lawsuit during tax cert period and the owner wants to redeem? Since you can't claim value for improvements, the owner can redeem by just paying taxes and interest at the revenue commissioners office. Then they tell the court that the property has been redeemed and ask to dismiss the case. That's the scenario I'm thinking about.

@Tai Bhattad I haven't spend any money, yet. I did the cleanup/grass cutting myself and the city didn't ask for any payments. I'm not sure if expenses for a citation (or to fix the problem) will be considered "value of preservation improvements". I would asume they're not, just to be safe.

Let's say you purchased a certificate from the 2019 tax sale and the administrative redemption period expires in 2022. The property is vacant, not abandoned, and the notice to surrender possession was mailed and received a year ago. The owner (a business) didn't respond, the property just sits there and you know it needs some repairs. The options are:

a) wait another year and get the tax deed, then proceed with ejectment; or

b) file for ejectment now and take the risk that the owner redeems before you get the tax deed (you won't get back your legal fees)

I'd like to know what other investors/experts think about this situation.

@Tai Bhattad I bought a property from the state in 2019 and received a certificate (2018 tax sale). The property is vacant, but not abandoned and I didn't engage in DIY possession. I sent notice to the owner, they never responded (certified mail was returned, regular mail didn't come back).

Last November, the City of Mobile sent me a letter and I was notified about several code violations: litter and trash, high grass and weeds, fence. I called the municipal enforcement officer and explained the situation (tax sale, can't go on property and repair the fence). I told him that I will go over there the next weekend to clean up, cut grass on the parts of the property that are publicly accessible (street and sidewalk). I also told him that I had about 7 months left until I can get a tax deed and start the ejectment process, take possession. He was very supportive and I notified him after I finished.

It took me 3 days on different weekends to clean up the sidewalk and I talked to several people while I was there. Still didn't hear anything from the owner, the administrative redemption period expires in a week.

It depends on how many investors have inquired about the property before you and your place in line. I've requested quotes before, and it can take a few days, or months if not years. With each person ahead of you, add approximately 30 days to your waiting time.

@Rodman Gomez, what was the initial amount (unpaid taxes) that the property was sold for at auction? If the person who bought the certificate/deed also paid the subsequent taxes, then the owner will have to pay that, too.

Every type of investment has its risks. It's really important to know the rules before you pay anything to anyone.

47 is the county code for Madison County, the actual Parcel ID begins with the 3rd digit. Example: a Parcel ID on the state's property list is shown as 471406243001031000, then you'd enter 14-06-24-3-001-031.000 as Parcel Number on the Madison County Assessor's website. 

I'm sure it is. :)

A limitation system can use email addresses and there are possibilites to check if applications with different email addresses come from the same computer/device. There could be a limit for each email address used by an applicant (max. 40 active, 20 per month and 5 per day). I carefully decide which properties I'm applying for, I won't apply for more than 20 properties each month. Otherwise, I'd have to use a different email address.

Of course, you can have as many email addresses as you want. But managing/monitoring a lot of them isn't that much fun in the long run. And with a limit of 5 per day, it would take 4 days to reach that limit. That's certainly not a perfect way to prevent abuse, it would just make it harder for those people who want to flood the system.