Whether being frugal is central to your identity or whether you just like to pay less for certain things in order to have money left over for the splurges you consider worthwhile, you probably have an idea of where to find reasonable prices for most of the things you buy.  Buying real estate properties is another matter; whether you are buying a house that you plan to live in for the rest of your life and pass down as an inheritance to your children, or whether you are in the business of buying investment properties to rent or flip, every purchase of land or real estate requires weeks or months of careful research.  One option is to buy tax delinquent properties from the state of Alabama; while it might be a financially wise choice, it is more complex from a legal perspective than you might imagine.  If you are considering buying a tax delinquent real estate property, contact a Birmingham real estate lawyer.

How Do Tax Delinquent Property and Land Sales Work?

Compared to working with real estate agents and mortgage loan officers, buying tax delinquent properties is refreshingly quick and simple.  On the Alabama Department of Revenue website, you can browse the tax delinquent property listings available in your county.  When you find one that interests you, submit an application for a price quote.  The quote you receive will be valid for twenty days.  Once you submit your payment, the property is yours, sort of.  If the property has been tax delinquent for less than three years, the state will assign the property’s tax sale certificate to you.  If it has been tax delinquent for three years or more, the state will issue you a tax deed for the property.  Neither of these documents is a substitute for a title to the property; you will still need to do a quiet title action to get the title to the property.

What Is a Quiet Title Action?

In most cases, when you buy a piece of real estate property, it is easy to transfer the title to the property to you; the seller transfers it to you willingly when you pay for the property.  A quiet title action is necessary when you legally obtained the property through some process other than the previous owner selling it to you.  In other words, there is not a continuous chain of title, and a judge has to issue an order declaring you the rightful owner.  The Alabama Department of Revenue recommends that anyone who buys a tax delinquent property and receives a tax deed hire a real estate lawyer to help them complete the quiet title action and become the undisputed owner of the property.

Let Us Help You Today

A real estate lawyer can help you file a quiet title action and deal with any other issues related to your purchase of tax delinquent properties.  Contact the Alabama real estate attorneys at Cloud Willis & Ellis for a consultation.

Resource:

revenue.alabama.gov/property-tax/taxes-administered/tax-delinquent-property-and-land-sales/

A Quiet Title Action Is an Ironclad Way to Prove Your Rightful Ownership of a Parcel of Real Estate