Alabama Occupied Tax Deed Questions

[Arnold Finkelstein]

I have three questions that pertain to an occupied tax deed I'm considering in Jeff-Bess in order to flip the deed either to the taxpayer or another investor.  However, there are, to my mind, fascinating questions.

Background: A taxpayer has two contiguous parcels:

- a delinquent parcel with a house on it that has been under-assessed as land.

- an up-to-date parcel that is only land, but which has been over-assessed as having a house on it.

Due to what appears to be an assessor's error from years ago that one can say "switched" the parcels, I think the taxpayer believes she has been paying taxes on the parcel with the house, and is unaware of the error.

Questions:

1)  Someone in the Tax Assessor's office in downtown Birmingham told me today that if I buy a tax deed for a parcel that has a house on it, but is only assessed as land, the tax deed only entitles me to the land underneath the house.  True or False?

2) Wells Fargo has been paying the property taxes on the parcel wrongly assessed as having the house, so I assume the house has a mortgage.  Are they eligible to initiate a judicial redemption on the parcel "next door," for which they have never paid taxes but on which the mortgaged house actually rests?

3) If the bank can redeem the parcel with the house on it, can we generalize on what banks typically do in this type of situation?  Will they immediately sue to redeem without discussion or notification (which I'd like to avoid), or will they communicate and entertain the ideal of simply buying the tax deed from me?  If so, what kind of mark-up might they accept without a fuss?