Property tax sale
The process by which a county sells a property, or a lien on it, because the property taxes went unpaid.
What it means
Property tax is a charge on the land rather than a debt of the person. It does not stop when the owner dies, nobody has to be billed for it to accrue, and the county's remedy is against the property itself. After a period of delinquency the county either sells the property at a tax sale or sells a lien on it to an investor who can eventually take the property.
There is normally a redemption period during which the owner, or somebody with an interest in the property, can pay what is owed plus interest and costs and keep it. How long that period is, when it starts, and what it costs are set by state law and administered locally.
For a property with unclear ownership this is the fastest route to losing it. Notices go to the name and address on the tax roll, which may be somebody who died years ago at an address nobody reads.
Why it matters
Unpaid property tax reaches the property directly, so it can take an inherited house without anybody deciding to sell it.
The deadlines are real, they are short in some states, and they run whether or not the family knows the account exists.
When you are likely to meet it
- When nobody has been paying the taxes on a house since the owner died.
- When a letter arrives about a delinquency on a property the family had not thought about.
- When the tax bill is still going to the person who died.
How this varies by state
Whether the county sells the property or a lien on it, how long the delinquency must run first, how notice is given, and how long the right to redeem lasts are all state law and vary widely.