Carolina County is selling Parcel A at a tax foreclosure sale. The county enters an opening bid of $4,500, the total taxes and costs owed on the property. Happily for the county, two other bidders, Billy Blue Devil and Wanda Wolfpack, get into a heated competition for the property. Billy Blue Devil is the eventual […]
Posts Tagged ‘foreclosure’
In Defense of In Rem
Thursday, December 10th, 2015The in rem property tax foreclosure process under G.S. 105-375 has recently come under criticism from some title insurance companies and attorneys. They raise two related arguments against using in rem. First, they argue that courts are quick to overturn in rem sales based on concerns about the notice given to owners and lienholders during […]
When a Local Government Purchases Property at a Tax Foreclosure (Part II)
Thursday, July 30th, 2015Tax fans, I know you’ve been eagerly anticipating the sequel to my last post, which ended in a thrilling cliff-hanger: What must we do with sale proceeds and outstanding taxes after a local government sells property it purchased at a tax foreclosure sale? Your wait is over! Read on to learn the stunning conclusion . […]
When a Local Government Purchases Property at a Tax Foreclosure (Part I)
Thursday, July 16th, 2015Local governments are free to purchase property at any tax foreclosure auction, be it one of their own or one initiated by another government. This often occurs by default when a local government enters an initial bid at the amount of taxes and costs owed on the property and no other parties offer bids. Or […]
The Tax Foreclosure Decision
Thursday, May 28th, 2015Tax collectors are obligated to “use all lawful means” to collect their local governments’ property taxes. G.S. 105-350(1). This provision implicitly obligates local governments to use the foreclosure remedy when available and necessary. Despite this legal obligation some local governments remain hesitant to use foreclosure. They might be worried about the administrative and financial aspects of […]
Property Tax Foreclosures: Attorneys’ Fees and Interest
Thursday, May 14th, 2015Foreclosure is a powerful collection remedy of last resort for property taxes that are a lien on real property. Because property tax liens generally have super-priority, local governments almost always get paid first from the proceeds of a foreclosure sale. That preferred priority for tax liens also means the mere threat of a foreclosure action […]
The Nuts and Bolts of Property Tax Liens
Friday, January 16th, 2015I’ve blogged recently about the importance of record ownership as of January 1 and January 6 for property tax listing and collection. Today I continue this New Year’s theme and discuss the property tax liens on real property that arise each January 1.
Tax Foreclosure and Redevelopment
Friday, October 18th, 2013Carolina County has been working with its largest municipality, Tar Heel Town, to redevelop one of Tar Heel Town’s more dilapidated neighborhoods. Many of the properties in this neighborhood are owned by absentee landlords who fail to maintain them properly. Not surprisingly, many of these properties are also subject to liens for thousands of dollars […]
Tax Foreclosures and Competing Liens
Thursday, September 13th, 2012When property owners stop paying their property taxes, it’s a good bet that they’ve been ignoring other obligations concerning those properties as well. Weeds grow chest-high, houses slowly crumble, and neighbors begin to use the lots as informal trash dumps. The properties become dangerous eyesores, forcing local governments to mow the weeds, demolish substandard housing, […]
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s . . .
Friday, January 20th, 2012Harry Potter and those Twilight vampires need to move over and make room for a new literary superhero. The mighty local government tax collector returns to the best seller lists this week after a fourteen-year absence with the release of my new book, Fundamentals of Property Tax Collection Law in North Carolina. That’s right, I […]
Tax Foreclosure Tips
Thursday, July 28th, 2011As the economy continues to drag, more and more local governments are relying on foreclosures to improve their tax collections. I’ve blogged previously about the foreclosure process here and here. Today’s post responds to a couple of interesting questions attorneys and tax officials have raised in recent weeks. But first, a few general observations and reminders. […]
More Tax Foreclosure Myths
Thursday, October 28th, 2010Building on this earlier post, here are a few more myths about tax foreclosures that deserve debunking. (This time I promise to avoid bragging on Duke basketball.) But first allow me to plug two resources that might be of interest to attorneys and tax officials. The Nuts and Bolts of N.C. Tax Foreclosures, last week’s well received […]
Appellate Court Upholds In Rem Foreclosures (Again)
Thursday, August 26th, 2010The Machinery Act describes the in rem tax foreclosure procedure in NCGS 105-375 as a “simple and inexpensive” alternative to the full-blown civil action required by the “mortgage-style” foreclosure procedure in NCGS 105-374. That description might be overly optimistic in light of the diligent title search most tax offices undertake before starting the process. But […]
No Legislative Surprises in Community and Economic Development as General Assembly Adjourns
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010Following the 2010 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, local governments will see an essentially unchanged statutory landscape for community and economic development. Some of the highlights are discussed below.
Repairing unfit houses—and then recouping the costs
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010[2011 UPDATE: For more detail on this topic, see the following 2011 book: Housing Codes for Repair and Maintenance: Using the General Police Power and Minimum Housing Statutes to Prevent Dwelling Deterioration] An earlier post on minimum housing ordinances (MHOs) explained how MHOs can be employed by a local government for the purpose of ordering […]
Priority of Local Government Liens
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Assume you are a county attorney who gets a call from the tax collector asking your advice on whether the tax office should start foreclosure proceedings on Parcel A. The property is valued at $25,000 and the county holds a tax lien of $4,000, so at first glance a foreclosure action looks promising. But then the tax collector lets you know that her staff did a […]
Taxes, Telephones and Traffic Cones: Do Tax Foreclosures Extinguish Easements?
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009An interesting discussion from the Local Government Law listserv last week: Do tax foreclosures extinguish easements? The answer must be no, don’t you think? If public utility and transportation easements could be extinguished by tax foreclosures, then the authority of the phone company to run telecommunication lines and the Department of Transportation to maintain highways would be dependent on the […]