Belt Auction

Has anyone been a victim of their property taxes being sold @ auction & losing their home?

Without our knowledge, our property taxes were sold @ auction ( we received notice AFTER the sale had already been conducted-of course, the county denied this saying they notified us). Has anyone else had this happen to them, what state & county do you live in & what happened? Did you lose your home or did you find a way to "fix" this & what did you do? Our home is paid for & because my husband & I are both disabled w/children, we applied for property tax credit. Our county neglected to let us know if we got approved. The 1st time we applied, they never let us know the outcome & when I finally contacted them, they told us we were too late. So there went one year of taxes. We applied again & I contacted them last Aug, at which time we were informed that, yes, we were approved, but if we didn't come up with the $5K from the last 2 years, that the person who "bought" our taxes could take our home. Can anyone help us? Thank you!

Public Comments

1. Yes they were required to notify you. And most places there's a publication in the local paper, and a notice posted at the property itself. But if you don't pay the taxes due, sorry but you lose the house. Even after the sale, you have some time to pay it and still keep it. Good luck.
2. You had all this time to pay it and didnt. You need to follow up better.
3. Basically what happened is that the county sold the debt, so you now owe the person who bought the debt. State law dictates how much interest is being charged. Bottom line, if you don't pay off the debt on time, the person who bought the lien can foreclose on your house and legally take it from you. Find a way to pay the debt even if you have to borrow the money because losing you house for a $5,000 debt would be horrible.
4. in most states properties are not seized for delinquent taxes for at least several years, each state will have different time lines and you would have been notified, long before any property seizure, you would have been notified of the date of the auction as well and in most states the owner is given some time to pay the taxes after the auction bid has been successful before the bidder claims the property you need to get some legal advice
5. Was the house sold or just the lien? In the first case, you are given a limited amount of time to cure the debt. After that, it's not your house and you have to move. If it's the tax lien, your debt, but not the house was sold. You have to pay the buyer of the debt. If he doesn't get paid, at some point he can take the house. The laws vary by state. In both cases, I'd contact legal aid and ask if a lawyer can review your case. "both disabled...we applied for property tax credit" The actual phrasing is different in each state/area. In my state, one can apply for a disabled "exemption." Disabled vets with a 100% disability rating are exempt. For others who are on social security disability, the state knocks $10,000 off of the value of the house, so it reduces the tax, but doesn't get rid of it. The state also offers a deferral, meaning that the taxes are still owed, but do not have to be paid as long as you continue to live in the house. Which brings us back to your original problem. You owed the equivalent of $200 a month and didn't pay it. You say it's because you didn't have the money after paying all other bills. Unfortunately, you are discovering too late that shelter should have been at the top of your budget, not the bottom. I know of no charities that will pay off your existing debt. Should the house be foreclosed, you will have to find new housing and that's going to cost you more.