AL Tax Sales: DIY Possession & City Citations

[Tai Bhattad]

As we already know: Alabama Tax sales allow immediate possession upon demand - but when the demand is not met within 6 months of tax Certificate  purchase (with demand), then the tax purchaser must file ejectment. Illegal or DIY possession is a varied topic on BP but no discussion around tax purchasers getting cited by the city inspectors for issues with the property. 
 
any AL tax sale investor open to share their experience with receiving citations in their name where the citation is around structure repair or even internal house issues where  DIY possession is inevitable and the owner is requesting redemption. 
1. did you diy possess the property to clear the citation

2. If owner redeemed were there issues with getting any money spent to clear the citation

3. Was a lawsuit filed for diy possession.

Feel free to share any scenarios beyond what I listed. 

it seems this Citation topic is not really discussed or It may be an oversight on my part. 

[Tai Bhattad]

Originally posted by @Thomas Kramer:

@Tai Bhattad I haven't spend any money, yet. I did the cleanup/grass cutting myself and the city didn't ask for any payments. I'm not sure if expenses for a citation (or to fix the problem) will be considered "value of preservation improvements". I would asume they're not, just to be safe.

If I miss a couple weeks of lawn care I get a citation; hence lawn care recurring bi-weekly for 2 yrs ... the cost adds up and very well is considered preservation improvement (per Denise Evans). Now consider multiple properties... the cost really adds up and no you wouldn’t pay the city until they put a lien to clear it themselves. I pay in US dollars to keep the lawn in order hence I’m expecting my money back whether I file ejection or not  in the event they redeem. 
1. I told an owner to clear the citations for one property every time I’d get a citation & they assured me they would... no go. Then I sent them invoices each month after I cleared it & they would pay the invoices upon receipt until they finally redeemed (during tax cert phase). 
2. another owner asked for my invoices for each citation and stated they were redeeming; 2yrs in and no invoice payment & no redemption. I withheld filing Ejectment thinking they would redeem but I’m moving forward with ejectment and claiming for invoices in hopes of a default judgment... to start the major repairs  

I’ll see how this plays out during the answer to the Ejectment.

Also to note there are projects we are working on that requires no open property citations linked to our name/entity hence the push to close the citations.