Property Tax Lien Strategy

[Samuel S.]

Hey BP Folks,

So I am looking to get into the tax lien arena, and was wondering how this strategy would play out:

Say I purchase a property tax lien at an auction, and the current owner ends up "defaulting" on the lien, and therefor I can foreclose on the house.  

Does this mean that I can technically keep the property?  What if there's an existing mortgage on the property for $100K?  My understanding is that the property tax lien takes priority over the mortgage, but I can't imagine that I would be able to keep the property and the bank would be left out to dry? 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!