Can I get my money back after tax deed auction?

[Marc Dufour]

I bought a land at a County tax deed auction. I did my due diligence and both the city zoning website and the zoning expert at the City said it is residential.

I won the auction....excited....and then another zoning expert at the City said it is Open Land. I confirmed with a higher person at the City is it Open Land.

Is there ANY chance I could get my money back form the County as I was misinformed? Any suggestion on how to proceed? This is a nightmare...

[David Krulac]

@Marc Dufour

I've said it many times and have written it here before.

Tax sales are the MOST HAZARDOUS type of real estate purchase that there is.

There are no do overs.

There are no seller disclosures

There are no home inspections

Most times you can only look at the exterior and can't see the interior.

There are lots of mistakes made, even in title searches.

Many properties that are sold at tax sale are being purposely abandoned by the owner because they CAN'T SELL IT!

I've seen on the tax sale list and people bought them:

side of a cliff

land at bottom of man made lake

land on Army bombing range

House torn down in 1972 on lease land, only the house was for sale

land under railroad tracks

sliver of land too small to do anything with

environmental problems even super fund site, if you don't know what the super fund is look it up, its not good and certainly not super.

house with back wall missing

land fill

former gas station

former dry cleaners

former auto repair garage

properties with millions of IRS liens

swamp & wet lands

flood way property unbuildable

landlocked property with no access

lot in subdivision never approved by authorities

properties with multiple tax sales (title uninsurable) in the chain of title

properties where the owner was claiming adverse possession but never filed court documents

meth house

property claimed by more than one owner

gun toting neighbor gated the tax sale property claiming it was his (I say never argue with a man carrying a gun)

basement filled with water for last several years

20 year paid up land lease, you would own the land but not get any rent for the next 20 years because tenant pre paid to former owner (commercial property)

CATV antenna tower land lease, tower was already torn down and land was owned by somebody else.

Property vacant for 7 years with bad leaking roof

Property vacant for 7 years covered with poison ivy

Property vacant for many years now home to many snakes (think snakes in the plane)

Non existent property

Properties with more than one chain of title and separate owners who don't know about each other.

Properties with endangered species

Properties with historic or anthropology significance

Properties with failed perk tests

Properties with failed septics and wells

Other than that tax sales are a piece of cake.

Tax sales are like the wild west, it is buyer beware with no safety net!

You have 2 chances to get your money refunded, slim and none.