Reclaim property

[Zipzip]

Tennessee

Hello I am looking at buying a home where the owner purchased it from the county. I assume the county had it for taxes owed.

The current owner who is selling has had the property for two months. He told me the county had the property for several years before it sold.

Any chance a previous owner could try to reclaim or reaffirm I can't remember the term here where they step up and pay all the back taxes to try and take possession of the house again?

I do plan on calling the county Monday but they are closed right now.

 

[LdiJ]

Tennessee

Hello I am looking at buying a home where the owner purchased it from the county. I assume the county had it for taxes owed.

The current owner who is selling has had the property for two months. He told me the county had the property for several years before it sold.

Any chance a previous owner could try to reclaim or reaffirm I can't remember the term here where they step up and pay all the back taxes to try and take possession of the house again?

I do plan on calling the county Monday but they are closed right now.

Generally when a property is sold at a tax sale/auction the original owner does have a certain amount of time to redeem the property. That amount of time is definitely more than two months and in some states is as much as a year. You definitely don't want to buy a property from someone who just got it at a tax sale/auction only two months ago.

 

[justalayman]

You really don’t want to purchase a property that was recently sold at a tax auction. Depending on the issues involved, the prior owner has from one to three years to reclaim the property.


Is the seller offering a general warranty deed or merely a quit claim deed? If only a quit claim deed, your rights in the property will be no greater than the rights the seller holds, which may be limited due to the tax sale issue. At least with a general warranty deed, if the property is reclaimed through redemtion you would have redress against the seller to demand he defend the title or rescind the sale (if you can find him and if he actually has the money to pay you if the sale is rescinded) If using a quit claim deed, you have no recourse against the seller.

I would suggest purchasing a buyers title insurance policy as well. If the title insurance company refuses to sell a policy or they exempt the claim of redemption by the original owner that lost it at a tax sale, run from the sale.


Simply put; you have a lot of research to do before buying this property.

 

[Zipzip]

I see... I did find Tennessee has one year for deliquent taxes.

So the county holding the property for several years before actually selling it makes no difference.

The previous owner can still reclaim the property based on the date it was sold at auction.

 

[justalayman]

I see... I did find Tennessee has one year for deliquent taxes.

So the county holding the property for several years before actually selling it makes no difference.

The previous owner can still reclaim the property based on the date it was sold at auction.

If the original owner disputes the validity of the taking, they have uo to three years to dispute it.

I’m not sure what you mean by the county was holding the property. Was it placed in the name of the county several years ago? Was the foreclosure undertaken several years ago and the property didn’t sell at previous tax auctions?



Have you checked whatever office registers deeds to verify the person claiming to be the owner was the grantee of a deed by the county or state (haven’t that in depth for,the issue to know which it would be)

 

[Zipzip]

Yes the county took the property several years ago. They we're unable to sell it at auction until recently.

No idea about the deeds as they are closed. Tomorrow I will have a better idea.

 

[Zipzip]

The records I found today have a court document with a decree paragraph, and clerk and masters report. Dated November 2017 for a deliquent 2013 tax bill. Never seen one of these before, but looks like a lawsuit with the county as plaintiff. The previous owner is defendant.

The county became the owner in November 2017 according to the document.

Then there is a quit claim deed from Feb 2018 signed by the mayor of the city where the city became owner of the property acquiring it from the county. It also states the county referencing the lawsuit in November 2017 where the county was purchaser.

The clerk and masters office(county) told me the redemption period is 12 months for deliquent taxes.

 

[justalayman]

is there a deed transferring it to the person you are dealing with?

 

[Zipzip]

Yes. They have not filed it yet, but will do so before I purchase. Quit claim deed purchased from city.

 

[justalayman]

Yes. They have not filed it yet, but will do so before I purchase. Quit claim deed purchased from city.

How do you know there is a deed transferring the property to your seller?


Why haven’t they already registered it?

 

[Zipzip]

How do you know there is a deed transferring the property to your seller?


Why haven’t they already registered it?

Not sure why. They are going to register it tomorrow. I have a copy of of the deed. They have original. I am going to meet them at the courthouse.

I have the new quit claim deed prepared transferring ownership to me. They are going to notarize it tomorrow at the courthouse. I am going to pay them afterwards. I will file it tomorrow, and take possession of the house.

 

[STEPHAN]

How much is the sales price?

Why do you not use an escrow company and proper title insurance?

 

[justalayman]

you had the deed prepared? While there is no legal requirement one or the other party prepares a deed, if you do it and there is a mistake, it will be much harder to correct it.

Are you purchasing (buyers) title insurance? Has anybody sued to quiet title up to this point?

What you’re doing make work out just fine but there are a lot of possible issues an inexperienced land buyer may not be aware of. You seem to be bypassing all of the steps one normally takes to protect themselves and their purchase.

 

[Zipzip]

Price was $3400.00.

Been burned by title insurance and title company before. They do make mistakes.

I made one mistake on the deed. I prepared an affidavit of sale with the purchase price which was required by TN.

They just stamped my deed instead, and had me fill in the price on one of their lines from the stamp. They said I could fill out the affadavit, but their stamp was easy.

I want to learn is all. I have prepared deeds in three different states so far.

Don't get me wrong here. I do call, and search through records before buying anything. I check for liens from contractors, trash bills, taxes whatever I can.

I am not against using a title company. If the seller pays, or if there is a licensed realtor involved leaving me with no choice.

Forgot to mention this and found the edit button.

The recorders office told me that they will not even allow someone to record a deed on a property until the 12 month redemption period has passed. You can of course buy a property inside the redemption period they just will not allow a new deed to be recorded until it has expired.

This could be county specific only. I have no idea if it applies to the entire state of Tennessee.

 

[justalayman]

Ok, im finding varying statements from various counties in Tennessee. One county where their actions are clear stated;

Upon the receipt of funds for the tax sale, the decree (a court decree attesting to the sale of the tax lien) will be registered with the county register. After one year, a deed is written and delivered to the buyer. The deed is eligible for recording immediately.

So,,what they are saying is there is no deed executed until the 12 months period has expired and there is no reason to delay recording that deed. What you found in the registers files appears to support this activity

That doesn’t appear to be congruent with the info you have been given.


Apparently it is nearly impossible to obtain title insurance until a quiet title suit has been completed or somewhere between 10-20:years have expired. Part of it is the three year period of contesting the sale I mentioned.

You may also check into the status of any outstanding property taxes for any year subsequent to the year of taxes the sale was based upon