Arizona Tax lien foreclosure/quit claim deed

[Karen D. Schiano]

I have sent Intents to Foreclose on several properties in Arizona.  Two owners simply want to give the land to me because it is remote off grid raw land worth little (but alot to my Christian art retreat expansion for the aesthetic quality of the land) that they don't want to pay off the tax liens on.  Can they simply sign (and notarize) a quit claim deed or do I have to go through the foreclosure process and file with the court?  I'm new to this so I don't know if this is acceptable to Navajo County and they don't do much self help.  I don't know what happens with the tax lien then, I don't know if the county has additional fees they will want paid off or it simply gets dismissed by the transfer of ownership and of course, me paying taxes forward.  Thanks for your help.

[Will Sifert]

You will need to talk to an AZ attorney or someone here who knows AZ law well. The law varies from state to state. Where I live there would need to be some type of succession done to legally transfer ownership from the deceased to his heirs, that would need to be recorded. I imagine that is similar in most places but not sure. You would also want to make sure there are no other liens or other people with an ownership interest in the property. If they sign over a simple quit claim they are just transferring *their* ownership interest in the property. Which is great if they own it outright 100% but no good if there are others who own a % or liens on the property. To make sure it is done right you really need to have an AZ real estate attorney review everything for you.  If there are no other liens on the property and everything checks out, it would be much cheaper to have the owner do a quit claim vs tax lien foreclosure lawsuit.