Tax delinquency has increased

Tax delinquency has increased, treasurer says

URBANA – In another indication of the troubled local economy, more people are behind in their property tax payments than at any time in the last 10 years, according to Champaign County Treasurer Dan Welch.

In legal ads placed last week in newspapers in the county, Welch’s office reported that 2,004 property owners have not paid their property taxes that were due Sept. 1. Last year on virtually the same date, Welch said, there were 1,393 property owners whose tax payments were delinquent.

The delinquent taxes amount to $7.48 million owed to various taxing districts in the county. Last year at this time, the delinquent taxes added up to $4.89 million, Welch said.

Still, he added, 97.25 percent of the property taxes in Champaign County have been paid on time this year. Last year at this time, 98.06 percent had been collected.

The percentage collected at this point has never been below 98 percent since 1999, Welch said, except in 2003, when it was at 97.46 percent.

The county treasurer, in his 11th year in office, said he doesn’t know how much of the late payments can be tied to the poor economy, “but that’s got to be a big part of it.”

“I don’t have any particular knowledge of why people don’t pay,” Welch said. “I hear from people who are mad about having to pay taxes, but not from people who are not paying.”

The last day to pay property taxes at the treasurer’s office is Oct. 27. At 9 a.m. the next day, a property tax sale will be held at the county board meeting room at the Brookens Administrative Center, 1776 E. Washington St., U.

Welch said he anticipates that half of the delinquent tax payments will be made by next Tuesday.

“I’d be surprised if the tax sale has more than a thousand parcels,” he said. “This year may be a year that surprises me, but I don’t think so.”

Last year, 905 parcels were sold at the tax sale. The number has grown steadily since 2003, Welch said, when the taxes on 581 parcels were sold.

In a tax sale, the actual property is not sold, but the property taxes for the parcel are offered for sale to tax buyers who then collect from the property owners, adding various fees and interest payments. Twenty-three tax buyers are registered for the Champaign County tax sale next week.

The vast majority of the delinquent property tax payments are in the range of $1,000 to $4,000, although there are some parcels in Champaign and Urbana where the taxes owed amount to more than $50,000.

The tax bill on the Gateway Studios building, a north Champaign motel closed last May by the city of Champaign, amounts to more than $74,235. In Urbana, the largest delinquent property tax bill belongs to CTC Properties LLC for an apartment complex at 1505 E. Florida Ave. That tax bill amounts to $264,546.

Developer Chris Creek, who built the apartment complex, said Monday that he plans to pay the property tax bill today or Wednesday.

Welch said he doesn’t review who is behind in property tax payments.

“I just make sure the list is in the paper and it’s published the way it ought to be, because I have to prove to a judge that it’s correct,” the treasurer said. “I don’t go beyond that at all. I don’t want anybody to say to me, ‘Why didn’t you give me a call?’ If I called one, I’d have to call 2,000 people.”

Welch said that under state law, he has to send notices by certified mail to each delinquent taxpayer – at a cost to the county of $3.24 apiece.

“I tried so hard to get that law changed, but (the Legislature) wouldn’t go for it,” Welch said. “Most of these people aren’t going to pick those up at the post office when they see that it’s from the county collector. They know what the situation is. It’s an absolute waste of money. If we sent it by regular mail, more people would end up getting them.”

Mohave Arizona Tax Lien Sale

THE TAX LIEN SALE The Mohave County Treasurer holds a tax lien sale between February 1 and March 1 each year. The lien is for TAXES only. You must check for other types of liens, and research the parcel. The Treasurers Office does not have records of other liens or problems that may occur with the title of the property. These items may be filed elsewhere. BE SURE TO CONDUCT YOUR RESEARCH PRIOR TO BIDDING! CAVEAT EMPTOR (Let the buyer beware). The Tax Lien Sale establishes a lien against property for unpaid taxes, and is not an outright sale of the property. If an individual chooses to bid on a tax lien against a parcel, and is the successful bidder at the time of the Tax Lien Sale, a lien is issued against the property. The holder of such a lien has no legal rights to the property. And cannot put improvements on said property (A.R.S. 42-18201). If one chooses to pay the taxes on a parcel of land, thus becoming a lien holder, one must bid at the Tax Lien Sale. The amount of interest a bidder may earn on the money invested may vary from 0% to 16%. The bid applies only to the taxes which are delinquent and subject to being advertised for offering at the Tax Lien Sale. The interest percent bid will apply to the subsequent taxes. At any time prior to issuance of a deed to the lien holder, the owner(s) of the property may clear the lien by redeeming through the Treasurers Office. When a parcel is redeemed, interest is paid monthly through the month in which the money is received from the party redeeming the lien. Records show that between 95% to 98% of tax lien are redeemed by the owner. HOWEVER, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT THE LIEN WILL BE REDEEMED. BANKRUPTCIES filed against a parcel will freeze all activity on the parcel(s) involved. ALL funds invested CANNOT be refunded until the bankruptcy is released. PAYMENT OF INTEREST ON TAX LIENS WILL BE DETERMINED BY FEDERAL BANKRUPTCY COURT. A Tax Lien and holding a Certificate of Purchase does NOT give you ownership rights to the property. A CP simply represents your TAX LIEN. The only methods to obtain legal ownership are through the foreclosure and deeding actions described above. PLEASE REFER ALL INQUIRIES TO THE MOHAVE COUNTY TREASURERS OFFICE, TAX LIEN DIVISION A The property which is not bid on at the sale is assigned to the State of Arizona at 16% interest. If you wish to purchase one of these liens from the State of Arizona, you may do so with an ASSIGNMENT REQUEST FORM. Contact the Treasurers Office if you need further information. We will send Receipts, Portfolio and bill for any additional taxes due when your payments are processed. BIDDERS MAY NOT SWITCH PARCELS! When the process for the Certificate of Purchase is completed, ownership may ONLY be changed to another party by REASSIGNMENT THROUGH THE TREASURERS OFFICE. SUBSEQUENT BILLING: The purchaser will be billed for subsequent taxes annually, at the address currently on record. To avoid additional interest, the payment must be received in our office no later than the due date given at the time of billing. To prevent erroneous posting of your payment, please mark your envelope: ATTENTION SUBSEQUENT TAXES. ACQUIRING DEED JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE (Quiet Title) Action Through which legal ownership of the parcel may be obtained. This is usually handled by an attorney, and must follow the statutory requirements outlined in A.R.S. 42-18202 (which requires letters of intent), 42-18204, 33-414, etal. The judgment must be recorded in Mohave County, and a CERTIFIED copy of the judgment, summons, complaint, with applicable fees must be forwarded to the Mohave County Treasurer for issuance of a Treasurers Deed. This is the only means to obtain title (deed) to the property for sales held after December 31, 1998.

Institutional investors in tax liens

Institutional investors in tax liens

Tax liens are open for individuals through auctions but institutional investors in tax liens also attend the tax sales and are the main competition. Certain auctions are limited to the institutional investors alone because of the amount of money they invest.

The institutional investors include bigger institutions like banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and the like. If you are an individual tax lien investor, you should not try to compete with these big institutions as they have big money to be invested and you will be outbid almost every time.

Institutional investors in tax liens are generally more interested in buying tax liens on homes. They are always looking for properties that will be redeemed quickly. Also these investors prefer minimum capital requirement and they will be ready for lower interest rates.

These institutional investors in tax liens are preferred by the states also as they can have high influence. These big investors can clear the bank formalities and close the foreclosure quickly.

The security regulations for institutional investors are also less because they are highly reputed organizations that can secure payments.

Institutional investors in tax liens can make good profits because they can do extensive research about the property with their resources. Hence when you have institutional investors in the auction, you can be sure that the property with high market value will probably not be yours.

As an individual investor, you will be bidding for highest interest rates while these institutional investors can bid for much lower interest rates because they can accept lower returns.

In the case of auctions that prefer bidders with higher premiums, institutional investors in tax liens can easily win the bid because they can bid a price that is not possible for small investors. Their resources are virtually unlimited and they concentrate on properties that are located in big cities.

The number of properties they can acquire is almost endless, as the institution will have large capital ready for investment. Apartments, commercial buildings and houses that are near airport, bus stops and terminals are preferred by institutional investors in tax liens as they have higher value in the future.

Tax Lien Terminology – Auction

Auction. If you have never been to an auction, there are few other things that can prepare you for the experience. The lien and deed auctions are live and open to the public. Each county typically holds only one a year and you must register in advance to bid. Understanding tax lien auctions is an integral part of investing successfully.

When & How Are Tax Liens Applied?

When property owners are late to pay their real estate taxes, the government will claim a lien on the affiliated property to encourage the property owner to pay their debt. To ensure that the government gets the funds they need for regular operations (schools, road repairs, and other public services), they then offer these liens to investors at public auction. While the government may claim a lien after a property owner is only a few months delinquent in paying taxes, these liens are usually not auctioned until the property owner is at least a year or more delinquent on their back taxes.

Investors purchase the liens for the cost of the back taxes owed and occasionally for more. Once the lien has been transferred from the government to the investor, the interest rate applied to that debt goes up. The property owner will have a set period of time to pay the new total (taxes, interest, and other related fees). If the property owner fails to pay within the arranged time frame, the lien now gives the investor the right to foreclose on the property.

In this way, the purchase of a tax lien may in some cases lead to the acquisition of a tax deed.

What is a Tax Lien?

If you are a home owner, then you may have a one-sided understanding of this term. The tax portion of the term typically refers to unpaid property taxes. The dictionary definition of lien is:

What you should know, pt. 4

While some people pay exorbitant sums of money and take long courses to access the information necessary to start investing in tax liens, the National Association of Tax Lien Investors directs you to everything you need to invest successfully. We aim to help you understand many of the potential complications and how to deal with them effectively while exploring some of the proven, low-risk alternatives to purchasing deeds independently. With the information on this website and through the materials we recommend, you can start making successful investments immediately. Remember one thing

What you should know, pt. 3

The National Association of Tax Lien Investors is committed to providing investors education concerning the basics of tax liens and tax lien investing. You can learn how to recognize the best tax liens, how and where to purchase them, and how to quickly and efficiently turn those purchases into a profit of up to 1,000%. Because the transaction occurs between you and another private entity, and because your investment is backed by state and federal laws, you will never have to worry about hidden fees or legal loopholes. When done correctly, tax lien investing is one of the safest and quickest ways to double your investment capital.

What you should know, pt. 2

No investment is without risks, and tax lien investing should only be done by those that have the knowledge and capital necessary to defend themselves against such risks. That does NOT mean that everyday people like you and I shouldn

What you should know, pt. 1

Tax liens have been a stable and reliable investment opportunity for over 100 years. That said, if you are like many Americans then your knowledge of tax liens comes strictly from being a home owner, or from watching late night infomercials promising you will be able to buy your dream house for $300. While more popular investment opportunities like stocks and bonds have become risky in the current economy, and while CDs and other savings plans lose much of their value to inflation, the potential for tax liens investing is actually growing.