What Happen if My Home Goes to a Tax Sale?

This is a frequently ask question especially  after a homeowner loses a property on a tax sale.  To help  avoid this kind of situation Terra International Realty  prepares an easy to understand ways and things to remember whenever a homeowner is confronted with this problem.

Why your home was included in the Tax Liens Sales:  First the homeowner should understand that every “tax delinquent property”  can only be disposed of by the government through a public bidding or auction sale. This can only be done if for some reasons you failed to pay the property taxes within  a certain  length of time allowed by the local taxing authority.  In that case,  your house or property will be included in a list scheduled for an  auction sale or what is commonly called as  tax lien property for sale.  But you  need to understand that there are two different  systems on Property Tax Lien Sales.

• Tax Lien Certificate : A tax lien certificate sale,  does not give outright ownership of the property to the buyer/winning bidder..  Rather, the   authority sells the amount of unpaid taxes  and the buyer receives a tax lien certificate after winning the bid. .  All the proceeds or  amount of taxes plus interest will go to the Taxing Authority or local government  to recover all the delinquent taxes attached  on the property.  Should  the original owner opt  to buy back the Tax Lien Property,  the original owner should pay every thing that the buyer paid to the Authority plus  new interests and penalties imposed, the amount of which will go to the buyer since the Authority had already recovered the delinquent  tax payments from the buyer’s bid.
• TAX Deed Sales: In tax deed sales, the City, Municipality or County,  sells full ownership and possession rights of the home or property won by the  buyer who submitted the highest offer or bid.  In some locality, the previous owner is also given a certain period or length of time to redeem or get back his/her property.

As a property owner you should always remember that even if your property goes to a tax sale, there are some options available for  you to get  it back. But of course,  a home lost through a Tax Lien Certificate is easier to recover than one that underwent a Tax  Deed Sale. In some US states the taxing authority is the county while in other countries, the auction is held in a  city, town or municipality, and all the delinquent properties scheduled for public auction are published in a widely circulated local newspaper. The names of owners, the size and description of the property and the minimum amount of bid are all stated in the  public notice section of the paper.

How can you save your home after a Tax Sale:  Terra International realty is giving some important pointers and well-meaning advice to owners who lost their home from:

TAX LIEN SALE:  After a tax lien sale the house is still yours  because the buyer only bought the unpaid or delinquent taxes on your property. If you’ll settle the unpaid taxes plus all the penalties, interest and every monetary liability attached on the lien, then you get back your home .Of course, you have to pay within a time frame  prescribed by the taxing authority. Failure to do so will permanently forfeit your right to redeem your property.

TAX DEED SALE: In a tax deed sale, it’s more complicated, especially if the buyer had already moved to  your property. But if you tried to settle right after the “sale”, you are in a better position to redeem your home although you have to pay the same amount put up by the buyer  for your property plus the corresponding  interests and penalties added to the delinquent taxes.  That is  also assuming the locality where the bidding  process was conducted has a “redemption clause” on the Tax Deed sold.

Another option available,  if redeeming is not allowed in that particular place, the owner can request to invalidate the tax sale commonly called as setting aside the sale. Your request can be justified and granted if you have some hard facts or evidences like the following:

• Presence of defects in the tax lien or legal documents during the bidding
• The taxes paid are somewhat erroneous especially in some computation of rates and penalties
• You did not receive any information about the taxes due even if you submitted a new and permanent mailing address for the past two years.
• You were not properly informed of the foreclosure proceeding as you did not receive any legal notice.
• If you are a senior citizen whose faculties are not functioning normally anymore

However, at the end of the day, It would all depend on the state’s law whether or not to honor your request to declare the  “sale”  invalid. Considering all the above premise,Terra International Realty ,  can only suggest that in a situation like this, it would be  best to hire the services of a lawyer who is savvy on this matter.