Thread: tax liens

Sorry but it doesn't sound like you really know how they work. They are not done by city but by county. Each state has different laws but most leave it up to the county to take care of collecting property taxes the way they wish. This also means not all states are tax lein states. Even in states, each county is different. Huge populated counties tend to do bulk auctions, meaning you can not buy just one. They are grouped together and you must buy the group. This could be hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars you need to purchase them. I believe most counties post it as public record in their local newspaper, and you also can check out county websites. These are usually done ONCE a year per county so it is not like you can just go and buy some. Also there possibly are tax leins that were not bought at an auction, so you want to check with the county if you could get or check a list and if you can purchase them without having to wait until they go back up for sale at the next auction. Each county with in each state does it differently.

A tax lien is not a judgment for action. When a tax lien is placed on a property all it accomplishes is recording of the county's interest and priority in the property.

You want to look for notice of sheriff's sales and foreclosure auctions.

Originally Posted by TomAnto

A tax lien is not a judgment for action. When a tax lien is placed on a property all it accomplishes is recording of the county's interest and priority in the property.

You want to look for notice of sheriff's sales and foreclosure auctions.

That depends on the state and county, and tax leins are different than forclosures and sheriff's sales. If he is looking for tax leins, he has to check out each county/state and see if they offer tax lein auctions, when they are, and if they only aution them as bundles or individually. There is a difference. I think tax leins is one of if not the lowest risk area of real estate you can get into, making money without the even owning a property. Plus, you step into the government's position as first in line to get your money back plus more.

Originally Posted by JJohnson1985

That depends on the state and county, and tax leins are different than forclosures and sheriff's sales. If he is looking for tax leins, he has to check out each county/state and see if they offer tax lein auctions, when they are, and if they only aution them as bundles or individually. There is a difference.

No, technically a lien is only a claim of a right to the property established by a judgment. Once that right has been established the next step is to take an action for sale to satisfy the judgment. The lien gives the property owner notice that they have a creditor seeking satisfaction of a debt. Here the creditor is the local tax authority. That is why this person is having a hard time finding the tax foreclosure sales.

I will agree that every state or locality calls it something different and will have different processes in enforcing the action. Knowing the local jargon will help, just talking to the local tax authority should straighten things out.

I think I am saying tomAto and you are saying tOmato. A lein is only a claim, but that is the point of buying tax leins. The government puts the lein on the property in the amount of unpaid property taxes. Since the government has already budgeted having that money, this is where Mr. Invester steps in. When you buy a tax lein at an auction, the government gets their money to be able to pay teachers and such. Now YOU have stepped in the government's shoes. When the deliquent ends up paying plus penalties, those penalties go to you and are profit. The very slight chance that someone will lose a home rather than pay property taxes is very slim. If after the required period of time after the auction, the deliquent has not paid their taxes, then you can go through procedure to gain the property if you wish. The main idea with tax leins is profiting from lending money basicly. So this has a different means to the goal than gaining properties in forclosure sales.

Ownership order:

Tax

1st mortgage holder

2nd mortgage holder

etc.

Other liens

As to what are the laws on Tax liens, areas are different so contact a local Realtor that specializes in this or go to the county and ask questions