Unpaid Land Taxes?

[Andy D]

I am about to mail off two checks for land I own in MS & I while reading the
fine print, I saw this this: "All parcels with taxes unpaid will be sold at the Land Tax Sale to be held
Monday, August 31, 2020"
WTF? Am I reading that right? If they don't get my 2019 tax payment within a couple months they
can sell my property off? I have always heard that if you don't pay your land taxes for several years
someone can pay them off and own your property.

 

[bannertime]

Wow wow. There has to be some type of limit like monetary value or something like 5-7 years.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

My wife had a family member that used to buy up land in that manner and sell it off.

It would depend on the jurisdiction that you are in if they can sell it THAT quickly or if they have to wait an appropriate amount of time, unless there is something in Federal law that allows them to do that.

Or, due to everything being stressed due to what's going on, they could be trying to see what they can get away with to get funds. That's just me speculating, but I imagine some creative thinking is going to be going on with everyone to make up for all the revenue lost so far this year.

 

[Andy D]

I just talked to them, mainly to make sure I had the correct $ with a penalty for it being late (apparently it's due January 1st)
She said that "yes, they sell the debt in August the same year. You have two years to pay off what you owe plus large penalties"

 

[Notarealsignguy]

They have to notify you and file for a tax deed first. Then post notices of the sale. They cant just straight up take it.....i think?

 

[Bradley Signs]

Call them! Get it from the horses mouth!

 

[unclebun]

Real Estate taxes are always due Dec 31. Those unpaid by the tax lien sale date get auctioned. In Mississippi the required notification is 2 weeks before the sale, and it's published in the newspaper of the county seat. The winner of the auction pays the taxes off and gets a lien on the property. If the property owner pays the back taxes and penalties and interest within the statutory time frame, then the state refunds the lienholder and the original property owner keeps the property. If not, the lienholder, who won the auction, gets the property for the price of the taxes and penalties.

 

[Billct2]

It's a way to get the tax money without having to expend any resources collecting it. Instead a private a company gets to profit hugely off of mostly elderly and poorer property owners. They buy the overdue taxes, tack on huge fees and interest and get the land for pennies on the dollar.

 

[signgirl]

Years ago I had loaned a friend money to pay her property taxes so she wouldn’t have to ask her parents which cut me short a couple weeks but I thought eh it wasn’t a large late fee . A couple WEEKS later I received a letter stating my payment was do such and such date and if it was not received by that date my property would be auctioned off. Funny thing is the previous owner at the time of closing was 3 years behind! Wth?

 

[Andy D]

In Mississippi the required notification is 2 weeks before the sale, and it's published in the newspaper of the county seat. .

I read online that in Mississippi they will only post in the news paper if it's an extremely large parcel (couldn't find it again) &
you wouldn't believe how terrible the postal service is here, unless they send it certified.
It's stupid how we have allowed the government to easily take property from us.

 

[Andy D]

It's a way to get the tax money without having to expend any resources collecting it. Instead a private a company gets to profit hugely off of mostly elderly and poorer property owners. They buy the overdue taxes, tack on huge fees and interest and get the land for pennies on the dollar.

Yes, for the last 5-8 years of his life, my wife and I had to pay my Father-in-law's property taxes, thousands every year, because there was no
way he could.. Thankfully he was still sharp enough to reach out to us for help.
People who steal old people's property that way should be lynched.

 

[Andy D]

They let you know ahead of time, cause, you know, taxes are due yearly. Here, I think they have the auction around March.
Something something something death and taxes, am I right?

I understand putting a lien on the property for taxes and a penalty, but allowing the elderly to be kicked out of their house to the streets
is evil and is bad for society.

 

[Reveal1]

Yes, for the last 5-8 years of his life, my wife and I had to pay my Father-in-law's property taxes, thousands every year, because there was no
way he could.. Thankfully he was still sharp enough to reach out to us for help.
People who steal old people's property that way should be lynched.

Agree but careful, someone from MS using the term 'lynching' may end up with the Feds at their door. I have a dislike for all taxes, but particularly for recurring taxes that have nothing to do with what someone consumes. A relic of centuries ago when wealth was determined by how much land was owned.

 

[unclebun]

It's just proof that you don't really own the land.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

In Texas, you can go years without paying before they take it. The school districts would take you to court rather quickly though. I know people that are chronicly a year or two behind.

 

[Johnny Best]

My grandfather and his brother inherited about 1500 acres around Union, Mississippi that was in the family from before the Civil War. Money was made from lumber and growing cane and cotton. The depression came along and the National Forest wanted their land. My grandfather always said the government stole that land from them because they were late on paying taxes.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

In Texas, you can go years without paying before they take it. The school districts would take you to court rather quickly though. I know people that are chronicly a year or two behind.

Some of that, I have to wonder if it depends on the land itself.

My grandmother (down in Kingsville) was always getting this bill for an acre of land (that was wrongfully surveyed as still belonging to her after a sale) that was surrounded by other property (no road access without going through someone else's land). Of no value to anyone, probably has squatters on it now or one of the other landowners (or maybe divided up among the surrounding owners if there is still more then one) and she was always getting letters for back taxes. The land wasn't worth the taxes on it due to it's location and size.

So I really don't think that there is that much of time before it's taken away unless the value isn't worth it. Aforementioned property, probably no one is going to ever buy it due to that it has little to no value on an auction block as it isn't worth the taxes that are owed on it.

 

[Andy D]

My grandfather and his brother inherited about 1500 acres around Union, Mississippi that was in the family from before the Civil War. Money was made from lumber and growing cane and cotton. The depression came along and the National Forest wanted their land. My grandfather always said the government stole that land from them because they were late on paying taxes.

I'm not sure what other states do, but in Mississippi, if you live on the land you apply for "homesteaders exemption" and land taxes are somewhat reasonable, but if you don't have that exemption, the land taxes are ridiculous.

 

[Andy D]

Some of that, I have to wonder if it depends on the land itself.

My grandmother (down in Kingsville) was always getting this bill for an acre of land (that was wrongfully surveyed as still belonging to her after a sale) that was surrounded by other property (no road access without going through someone else's land). Of no value to anyone, probably has squatters on it now or one of the other landowners (or maybe divided up among the surrounding owners if there is still more then one) and she was always getting letters for back taxes. The land wasn't worth the taxes on it due to it's location and size.

So I really don't think that there is that much of time before it's taken away unless the value isn't worth it. Aforementioned property, probably no one is going to ever buy it due to that it has little to no value on an auction block as it isn't worth the taxes that are owed on it.

That reminds me of when I was a kid reading a comic book, they had advertisements that you could buy a square foot of land in texas "with a real deed",
for some reason I always thought that would be cool to have and visit.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

That reminds me of when I was a kid reading a comic book, they had advertisements that you could buy a square foot of land in texas "with a real deed",
for some reason I always thought that would be cool to have and visit.

There are places in Florida that you can buy land with an actual deed but never actually know where your plot is located within the subdivision. They originated from the Florida swamp land sales scams back in the 60s and 70s. You usually get a key to access the property and people build camps and go 4 wheeling in them.