Help With Tax Lein
Have a question I hope someone can help me with. I purchased a tax lein on a property paid 1000.00 for it signed all the paperwork got all the back tax receipts and went about my way. Later in the day the Tax office called and said we made a mistake the landowner paid the tax last night but we did not get it entered into the computer until after the sale. Sorry for the mistake please come by and pick up your money as the deal is off. When I asked if the tax office was going to pay me the 20% they said no just come pick up my money. My question is do I have a case to get the 20% (rate for Ga tax leins) My understanding was when the lein was to be redemed I could collect the 20% rate anytime the landowner redemed the lein. Now I undertand that since the bill was paid there really never was an agreement but is the tax office responsible for their mistake in any way?
Your advise is valued.[ Edited by hughforrester on Date 02/03/2004 ]
A bit of common sense advice for you...
DO NOT make the people at the county office dislike you. You will be dealing with them a lot in your TLC career (and for other RE things.) Don't be in such a hurry to get $200 if ti might cause potential headaches for you in the future.
So whether you may or may not have a case, go and get your money back. The 200 bucks isn't worth it. (although 20% for a 1/2 day loan.. not bad. )
Raymond Merz
Thanks for your insight any other suggestions. Do I just accept their we are sorry reason and leave with nothing for the hrs I spent investigating the property taking time off from work to attend the sale, time spent at the sale, time getting the cash from the bank, and time spent waiting in line ? Totaled a good half a day. and all I get is a we are sorry
I think you got good advice, If you plan on doing this often wouldn't make an enemy of a government employee. They can make it hard on you in the future. However if you go get your money no questions asked and a friendly conversation, may get you some extra help in future.[ Edited by wpruett on Date 02/03/2004 ]
How can they make it hard, they have a private company doing the sale, and as I understand it I am the customer (paying taxes on a property they can't collect on)
They made the mistake and took my money on a property they could not legally sell.
Hugh,
Each state and county has rules for the redemption of tax delinquent properties. You have no case. The laws of the state or the county have been created with a great deal of legal scrutiny to make sure that they will withstand any challange.
If you wish to be an investor in your county, then turn this lemon into lemonade.
Talk to the county property manager or the tax assessor, relate the story and ask them for any input on tax delinquent properties that are coming up for tax deed auction.
These county officials will see that you are a serious investor, because you already tried to invest, albiet unsuccessfully. If you present yourself well they might like you and help you by giving you really good information. Therefore, be prepared and ask smart questions.
You have no case. Make your investment in time well spent by getting to know your county tax officials.
Good luck,
Mitchell Goldstein
ok thanks I guess I was just upset with the outcome thanks for the advice.
Another suggestion:
When possible buy more than one tax lien. Of couse reseach is essential to find other good properties, but my general experience is I try to get at least 5 (and if possible minimum of 10) tax liens per auction.
I realize money can be a limiting factor here -- but your return and opportunities are better if you can have several properties to spread the cost/time/effort over. You also spread the risk of the county making mistakes (such as this case) over a greater number of properties. Generally there are very few properties that fall into your circumstance.
[addsig]
hughforrester-----------------
Good for you getting over it.
This happens all the time. I have had checks returned to me weeks after a sale.
I have had houses that I bought at OK tax resales rescued by the owners after the tax auction. Turns out to be legal.
You think you are upset. You only lost $200 in profit. I lost tens of thousands. I work two to three weeks to buy properties at the tax resales. Fortunately, I do buy more than one, so at least I get something for my efforts.
Good Investing********Ron Starr**************
Update !!!
Tax office called today and said there was a mistake the property that was paid on was another property that was correctly pulled before the auction. So looks like the deal is on again. Now I just have to wait a year to see if I made a 20% profit or if no one pays off I take possion of the property what is worth $25,000.00 so I can rehab it !
Either way I am just glad the deal is back on track
I would like to know more on what circumstances the debtor can get out of paying after the auction and get rights back to his property is the Federal or State law ?
BTW I would have bought more but out of 100 or so only 3 made it to sale date...[ Edited by hughforrester on Date 02/04/2004 ]
Hugh
The rules for each state are spelled in law. Contact the county tax collector for the county that you are interested in and ask the same question. You can also call the county attorney. These people should be able to tell you the specific state law that governs tax delinquentcy redemptions for that state. Each county can add its own set of rules on top of the state law, so do not forget to check for that when you talk to the county attorney.
An answer to this issue of losing a deal because of a redemption, is to find the tax dellinquent and offer to purchase their redemption rights. However, before paying out any monies, be sure that you know the full set of persons that have an ownership interest in the property. They must all sign off on giving up their redempton rights. The county tax collector usually must run a title check and legally serve all persons of interest. You can get the owners from that title search. All these records are public information.
Best of luck,
Mitchell Goldstein
[ Edited by Mitchell on Date 02/05/2004 ]