Wholesaler/ Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 491 posts · 113 votes
Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone is having a great day so far today.
So, I've been researching a code enforcement list that I retrieved fro the city and see that a lot of the properties are thousands and thousands of dollars behind on there taxes. I'm wondering at what point does the city take the house from the owner? Is there a certain amount of back taxes someone has to have? Is there some kind of indicator on the tax website that lets you know it's about to be seized?
Depends on the cities motivation and even what value they can get out of selling it. There are houses in Detroit that have back taxes that are decades past due.
Depends on the cities motivation and even what value they can get out of selling it. There are houses in Detroit that have back taxes that are decades past due.
@Benjamin Blackburn, good luck trying to get someone on the phone at the treasurer! Three years of delinquent taxes is all it takes to foreclose (and I think two years if the property already went through tax auction once before...) If you're seeing properties with huge tax bills from more than three years past due, it's more likely the person is on a payment plan with the county.
Thank you for the very interesting information. That makes complete sense about the individuals with large tax bills on a payment plan with the city. I plan to go up there sometime next week and speak to someone directly.
Code enforcement and delinquent taxes are essentially non-related as to the manner in which defaulted tax sales occur.
Since there are 50 states and commonwealths in the US with essentially 50 different laws governing tax sales, you need to pick a state. Some have rights to force sale of the real property asset to satisfy payment; others auction off the tax lien debt obligation in Byzantine auctions. Others do some form of both.
There are some 3,043 counties nationally, each of which is free to administer the actual sale of the properties or tax liens in manners consistent with state law.
In short, delinquent or defaulted taxes are great opportunities to spot properties to acquire from owners. I've used these as clues to missing and deceased owner opportunities for decades. However, IMHO have no interest in acquiring properties via auction.
Your challenge is to pick a defined geographic area, learn the rules, including the basic laws and timelines for defaulted tax enforcement, and uses this for creating hit lists of properties to target.
Right , Taxes and Code enforcement......two different subjects.
For now, if you are interested in finding motivated sellers, get a list of all the housing code violations in your community. (should be public information, if not, make friends with housing inspectors)
Next go visit the owners and talk to them about their problem with the city; don't try to steal their equity, attempt to give them suggestions (Give to Get), let them know how to abate their violation, give them referrals to contractors or handyman.
They should know that a housing code violation is serious and could develop into a criminal charge if not abated.
We use this technique in our area and have helped many investors and home owners, they do not forget this help and sometimes will remember you when it comes time to sell.
As others have mentioned, the answer varies quite a bit depending on the state. In my state for example, the cities don't ever "take your house" for being behind on taxes. The county can sell your house via a tax deed sale, but generally only if you haven't paid your property taxes for 5 or more years. Even they don't take it though. They just auction it to the highest bidder.