Hello everyone, I purchased my first tax lien a few months ago. Since then, the owner has sent a letter stating they would like to redeem. I recieved the letter and enclosed was some papers for me to sign for them to redeem. I'm not interested in the property at all because it's occupied. I just want what I invested. I did sign the letter and sent it back to him. I don't know what to do after that. I really should've waited until I understood more before I signed the letter. What's it the process I'm about to get into? I will never purchase an occupied property again. I'm in Birmingham, Al by the way. Any advice or knowledge is appreciated!
JD, CCIM , Real Estate Broker · Tuscaloosa, AL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Tamika Rue, the owner is supposed to take the Affidavit to the redemption clerk in Jefferson County and pay the taxes plus interest. That might happen quickly or very slowly, it all depends on whether the owner has the money to redeem or not. Whenever they do pay, then the county will process the money and the paperwork and eventually send you a check. Unfortunately, in Jefferson County that will take around 4 months. That bad part is the owner redeemed on the day they gave their money to the county. Even though you don't get the money until four months later, you earn no additional interest during that time period.
Call in about a week to see if the owner has redeemed yet. If not, and if you want them to hurry up and redeem, send them a letter by certified and regular mail demanding they vacate the property and surrender possession to you, or you will file an ejectment lawsuit against them and have the sheriff's department set them out on the street so you can make improvements to the property. Advise that after that the redemption price will increase by the amount you increase the value of the property, which will most likely be more than the money you actually spend. Also, they will have to pay your legal fees for the lawsuit, which will be added to the redemption price, by law. Give them one week to advise you if they will surrender possession voluntarily or if you will need to contact your lawyer about filing the lawsuit. That usually gets people to redeem right away.
@Denise Evans they have sent a certified letter that I have to go pick up tomorrow. Hopefully they are trying to reach out to let me know more information. I will be sure to send them in my own words with what you stated above if they can't give me the money right now. I'd like to speed up the process and move on to another property. Thank you so much for your knowledge!
JD, CCIM , Real Estate Broker · Tuscaloosa, AL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
@Tamika Rue, Was the letter from the owner, that you mentioned in your original question, received by regular or certified mail? If regular mail, then the certified letter is probably just another copy, to prove they sent it to you. Be sure to pick it up, though, just to make sure.
So I picked up the certified letter and it was the same letter I received last month. I called the person and spoke with them. He said he'll have the money within 30 days and he's going through some things. I hope he can get it to me within that 6 months timeframe of when I can do ejectment. If he doesn't I'm preparing myself to go ahead with the ejectment process so I can go ahead and make improvements. Any advice or information is greatly appreciated!
Stefan, I sold it to someone for a low price. Took about 20 mins for me to transfer to someone else. The owners still hadn't redeemed and I didn't want any legal issues if I were to try to do any improvements on the property (signed affidavit w/o putting exp date on it). Im still learning
Can you clarify what you mean by selling it to someone else? Did you wholesale the house, because you got the deed? or just sold the tax deed to another person?