Tn. property tax sales??

[Dirtshooter]

Hi guys do any of you know what the law is concerning delinquent tax sales? I have my eye on a lot but the owner and his wife died and there are like 7 heirs to the property some who have since died and I cannot contact them. I know the taxes haven't been paid in 2 years. I am going to contact a lawyer, but thought someone here may have some info about this. Thanks Mac

[Tncobra]

They ALL have to sign off on it, to sell it. If they don't pay the taxes it will auction at the courthouse. Fight realtors at auction.

[analog_kidd]

First, find out when the delinquent tax sale is, and keep checking to see if the property is still on the list. A lot of time the owner will pay it at the last minute.

 

If it is still on the list, show up at the courthouse with the money in hand. They won't take a promise to get a loan. You have to pay it in full that day.

 

They will start the auction price at the amount of tax that is owed, and bids will go up from there. Even if you win the bidding, and pay for the property, it is still not yours for one full year. You legally can't even visit the property. if it is a house, the owners can even continue to live in it. The owner / heirs will have that year to pay you back, with either a 10% or 15% (I can't remember) interest payment. If nobody pays you back in that year, the property is officially yours.

 

If it is a house, with occupants on the day you own it, have the local police / sheriff pay them a visit and inform them they need to leave immediately.

[Dolomite_supafly]

You can call the tax assessors office and ask what properties are coming up for sale. It should also be in the paper.

 

One more thing, make sure the sale is a true tax sale. I have seen properties sell at the courthouse like a tax sale only to find out there were liens on the property that the new owner was responsible for. We were watching one really closely and we were told by everyone involved it was a tax sale. Then in the paper it listed the property being sold on the courthouse steps and gave a contact number. I called the number and it was an attorney that was selling the property for his client. I was told the starting bid which seemed really high for a tax sale and after some questions he said it wasn't a tax sale but was being sold as if it was. And when I got some more information about the terms of the sale the "fine print" said the new owner was responsible for any additional liens. So after some more digging I found out the property was actually owned by three different banks and the property had several liens on the property. The property sold that day for $170K which was fair for the property at the time but I bet the new buyer had a shock when he found out he owed a lot more. Best we can figure is the owner, who was a real estate agent, used the system to take out several mortgages on the property his real estate company owned knowing he was going to default. Best part is he used a LLC to do it so it probably didn't affect his credit score. And the new owner paid off any money owed by the previous owner leaving him free and clear.