All Forum Posts by: Denise Evans

The ADOR list is a good place to start. If you buy an owner's redemption rights, you will have to pay full taxes and accrued interest to redeem. But, with all the inventory at the State, you can find something that is worth it. Often, it is not simply a matter of the former owner being unable to redeem. If they DID redeem, what would they have--usually a house that is not habitable and cannot be made habitable without an infusion of $30,000 to $40,000 that the owner does not have and cannot borrow.  Just make sure there are no liens against the property. The tax sale "launders" off all liens except local government liens--sewer, grass cutting, demolition.  If the owner redeems, or if you buy out the owner's rights and then YOU redeem, all of those liens re-attach to the property.

BTW, do not count on buying vacant lots and building something on them. With construction costs today, and rental rates in the neighborhoods where most of the properties are location, you usually can't make the numbers work.

That is correct. But once they have been evicted from the lot, and not removed the mobile home (as they are required to do) then it is considered abandoned. If you get an eviction order and they do not get out, then they are in contempt of court and can be brought before the judge. He/she will give them additional time, but at some point they will be told they can go to jail for contempt of court.  You can, of course, pay Sheriff's deputies for the turnout order and you can pay someone to move the MH off the premises, but that is not your only remedy.   I recommend you join the local state trade association for mobile home park owners, and you will probably learn a lot and learn a lot of names of attorneys and others that can help you.

The remedy is eviction, not ejectment. Eviction is easier and faster. As far as the tenant owning their own mobile home, look at Alabama Code Sections 35-12A-1 through 35-12A-15, which provides the remedies for selling mobile homes that are abandoned. A mobile home is abandoned if the tenant has been evicted from the lot but does not remove their mobile home.

Contact Josh Anderson, Anderson Realty Group in Birmingham, AL. He wholesales tax deeds and also has a finance company for tax sale investors.

Thanks @Michael Penny. At the time, I contacted tech support and they said I could not do that. I will do it right away.

You can call me, if you want.

Did they pay the $100,000 into court when they filed their lawsuit? Did they make written demand on you for the value of the post-foreclosure improvements? Short answer, redemption includes the VALUE (not the cost) of post-foreclosure improvements, no matter who made them. Copies of receipts for materials and paid bills for labor are evidence of value, but not essential. An appraiser can testify as to the before and after values, assuming you can tell him what was done.  If the redeeming party failed to pay the money into court when they filed the lawsuit, then the one year did not stop ticking down and now they can't redeem. If you failed to timely and properly respond to the demand for the value of the improvements, then you lost the right to be paid for them. This probably requires a much longer discuss that can be done on this post.

Hi @Brendan M Hornung. Yes, in Alabama the tenant is liable until you find a new tenant. If you are confident you can re-rent it within a certain time frame, you might offer to let her buy out of her lease. It you think you can re-rent it in three months, then let her pay 4 or 5 months rent to buy out of it, with part of that being a credit for the security deposit money, assuming there are no damage deductions.  If she can't afford a lump sum payment you can still agree to a lump sum buyout number, with payments made over time.

That way, you avoid accusations you are not trying hard enough to re-rent the property. Also, you might actually re-rent it in 1 month, but you still get to keep the entire buy out purchase price.  Make sure the buy out agreement is worded properly though so it is not a prepayment of rent that will be due in the future.

You must refund the security deposit or provide an accounting of sums deducted from it, within 60 days of lease termination. This is true even if you do not have a forwarding address for the tenant--in which case you mail it to the premises.  If you miss your deadline, you are liable for double the security deposit plus legal fees.

20 years is a universal period of repose. That is the legal expression if you want to google it. Sometimes it is called laches.  After 20 years, problems disappear. it has been too long. Witnesses are dead. Paperwork has disappeared.  Things just can't be enforced any more.

Hi @Caylan Deal. In 2019 some counties switch to what we call the "new system." It was elective. Jefferson County switched in 2022. Most counties are on the new system. I few, such as some of the smaller rural counties, plus Lee County (Auburn University) and Houston County (Dothan) still use the old system.

Under the old system, investors bid up the auction price. The redemption rate was 8% on the taxes plus some portion of the overbid. Unsold properties went on the Alabama Department of Revenue inventory, where they could be purchased over the counter. Some wholesalers obtain price quotes from ADOR and you can buy from their websites at a markup.  Under the old system, investors get a tax certificate. It entitles them to possession. That is a tricky issue too long to discuss here. Read some of my other posts and forum answers.  Bidding is at in person auctions at the county courthouse. Winner bidders pay the taxes each year unless and until there is a redemption. Three years after the auction they can surrender their tax certificate and get a tax deed. Former owners usually still have redemption rights. The investor does not get clear title until it obtains a quiet title order from a judge after a lawsuit, or it gets releases or quitclaims from everybody with redemption rights to the property, giving up their rights.

Under the new system, bidders bid down the interest rate they are willing to accept if the property is redeemed. It starts at 12% and can go down to 0%. Winning bidders get a tax lien. They are not entitled to possession. They do have a right of first refusal to buy the next year's tax lien at the same interest rate. Bidding is usually online, at govease.com.  Unsold liens can be sold individually by the counties, if they want to bother with it. Usually they just wait until the next year, and sell two years liens at once. The law will change on 10/1/24. After that date, investors must wait four years after their first auction, and must own all of the tax liens in the meantime. After that critical date, they can file a foreclosure lawsuit to foreclose their liens. If nobody redeems in that lawsuit, someone can still demand a public auction. The judge will order a public auction, kind of like a bank foreclosure auction, and the highest bid wins. Out of the winning bid, the investor is paid their taxes, plus interest, plus legal fees, plus auction fees. The rest is divided among people with redemption rights. The investor has the opening bid equal to everything owed to it. If there are no bidders, the judge will quiet title to the property in the investor and order the clerk of the court to issue a clerk's deed.  The investor can bid against other bidders.

That's it in a nutshell. There are many different successful strategies depending on your cash, borrowing ability, rehab skills, time, local contacts, or lack of any or all of them.