AL Tax Certificate - Ceast & desist to tax purchaser

[Tai Bhattad]

Looking for best course for the situation in Alabama based on a 2019 tax certificate: 

1. Purchased tax certificate from AL state. Sent demand notice and called owner regarding ‘neglected-squatter ridden’ house. Owner stated they received all letters and it’s best I don’t contact them again since they let the house go in the tax sale and it’s no longer their problem. 

2. I got  a citation from the city RE: squatters, visible debris inside & out and rotten wood around entire house. I sent the citations to the owner to cure and called again.to explain these citations are linked to my name & I can’t get approved for other business matters with open city citations. The owner stated she is giving me a verbal ceast & desist for no further contact  

Questions:

a. if I have the owner served for ejection will I violate any laws with the ‘verbal’ ceast & desist given? 
b.  now with covid— are ejectment suits being acknowledged by circuit court?

c. I cured the citation to release any citations against my name- & paid current yr’s taxes.. can I get sued by the homeowner for curing the citation without an ejectment order in my favor?

d. I want to offer the homeowner a ‘’ payout to release their dealings or get a quit claim & make it easier to quiet title but again I don’t know if I should contact w/o  rubbing them the wrong way with their verbal C&D. The deed is available by next yr but what benefit is this in regards to gaining time to having exclusive possession if no ejectment is filed for possession?

many insight is appreciated  

[Will Sifert]

Originally posted by @Tai Bhattad:

Looking for best course for the situation in Alabama based on a 2019 tax certificate: 

1. Purchased tax certificate from AL state. Sent demand notice and called owner regarding ‘neglected-squatter ridden’ house. Owner stated they received all letters and it’s best I don’t contact them again since they let the house go in the tax sale and it’s no longer their problem. 

2. I got  a citation from the city RE: squatters, visible debris inside & out and rotten wood around entire house. I sent the citations to the owner to cure and called again.to explain these citations are linked to my name & I can’t get approved for other business matters with open city citations. The owner stated she is giving me a verbal ceast & desist for no further contact  

Questions:

a. if I have the owner served for ejection will I violate any laws with the ‘verbal’ ceast & desist given? 
b.  now with covid— are ejectment suits being acknowledged by circuit court?

c. I cured the citation to release any citations against my name- & paid current yr’s taxes.. can I get sued by the homeowner for curing the citation without an ejectment order in my favor?

d. I want to offer the homeowner a ‘’ payout to release their dealings or get a quit claim & make it easier to quiet title but again I don’t know if I should contact w/o  rubbing them the wrong way with their verbal C&D. The deed is available by next yr but what benefit is this in regards to gaining time to having exclusive possession if no ejectment is filed for possession?

many insight is appreciated  

 Alabama appears to be a tax lien state like Louisiana. Beyond that I am not familiar with Alabama. I have received numerous letters from local municipalities demanding everything from the grass to be cut, garbage removed to roofing and other structural repairs need to be made or the house will be demolished. When we purchase a tax sale certificate and we have not gone through the quiet title process (suit to take legal ownership of the property) the local govt always wants to treat us like we are the real owners, when we are not.

I have always called them and explained to them the property was purchased at tax sale. It has not gone 3 years and therefore I am not the owner as it can be redeemed anytime by the current owners. If the property is occupied I leave it there and let them know to contact the owner, sorry I can't help. If the property is vacant or abandoned we file a writ of possession. This gives us legal authority to access and possess the property even though we are not the owner. This is done to satisfy the request of the local authorities asking that something be done to the property.  I routinely pay to have the grass cut and on multiple occasions made repairs to the property. I have done this for two reasons, to mitigate whatever damage is being done to the property especially if there is still value in saving the structure. Also to avoid the local govt from doing the work and then putting a lien on the property that I would eventually have to pay if I end up getting the property. They always charge a lot more to do the work than what I can get it done for. Even if the property gets redeemed, there is a way I can get repaid for the expenses I paid to do that work.

In your situation, I would definitely consult with a local real estate attorney who is knowledgeable in Alabama property tax sales law. If there are notifications the owner need to receive from you by law, I don't think you sending them would be violating and cease and desist order. 

Good news is that it appears the owner will not redeem the property since they are letting it go. It sounds abandoned, I would do the work requested, probably cleaning up and boarding up windows and making sure people can't squat there. If the people in the house are occupying it illegally (no lease or permission) then I would think you could get them run off with the  assistance of the police. I would also be nice with the owner, once you quiet title and you own the property it could come in handy to reach out to them and offer them a few bucks to sign a quit claim to help make it easier for you to get title insurance. Once they say they want nothing to do with it, I would thank them for their time and not contact them again until/if I needed a quit claim for title insurance.