County delinquent tax land sale will be Aug. 31

Would you like to buy some land cheap? You may have your opportunity Monday, Aug. 31, at the annual delinquent tax land sale.

Each year property parcels for which taxes have not been paid are sold by the county at auction.

For many years a traditional sort of round-robin in-person auction was used but not everybody had the opportunity to bid on any parcel.

Three years ago the tax assessor-collector switched to an on-line auction that is fair to everyone. Bids can be placed remotely and conditional bids, increases and limits can be programmed as well.

That auction will begin on Monday, Aug. 31, at 8:30 a.m. CST and will continue each subsequent day until all parcels have been offered for sale. Tax Assessor-Collector Tameri Dunnam said this past year the sale was over before noon the second day.

The auction will again be hosted at http://auctions.govease.com.

The on-line system not only gives everyone the same opportunity to bid, but may increase competitive bidding. The first year the system was used the county saw a profit of about $47,000.

Although the auction will be on-line, bidders still must arrange for payment and verify registration with the tax assessor’s office ahead of time. Dunnam said her office will need a blank check, letter of credit and W-9 tax form from each bidder.

Online registration can be done now, only takes a few minutes, and registering does not mean anyone is obligated to bid.

Because not everyone in the county has good internet access, in the past the tax office had a limited number of computers available for use in the courthouse and free wifi is available for public use at the Union County Library.

Dunnam encourages anyone with questions to call the GovEase support line at 769-208-5050, or call her office at 662-534-1973 concerning the sale itself. She also highly recommends viewing the tutorials on the website.

Although one may purchase land for a small delinquent tax amount, there is a catch of sorts.

First, Dunnam said that landowners will still have an opportunity to redeem their property as the last minute before the sale, but it needs to be done soon. They would have to pay the seven-percent interest penalty as well as a $1.50 printer fee per parcel.

Also, a property owner has two more years in which to redeem the property by paying the tax that was owed plus related costs plus seven percent damages plus one and one-half percent interest per month on what is owed. And even then the purchaser may still sell the land back to the original owner for a profit.

So, at worst, someone buying property at the sale would still make some profit even if he or she did not keep the land. While some are actually interested in obtaining specific pieces of property, many people buy parcels on the assumption that the original owner will eventually redeem the property and provide the sale purchaser with a much higher interest return than he or she could get at a bank.

Each year the public listing of delinquent taxes may take up 10 large pages in small print but being listed doesn’t mean that much on its own.

If you see someone’s property listed with X amount of tax due, you can’t just walk into the tax assessor’s office, plunk down the money and purchase that property.

Also, seeing a name listed does not mean one should draw any negative conclusions. True, some people may not have the money at the time to pay the tax because of any number of reasons, but others purposely delay payment for some financial advantage, preferring to pay a penalty later to free up cash now.

Initial tax notices go out about the first of December each year with a second notice the first of January. Unpaid taxes become delinquent Feb. 1 so property owners have almost six months to pay.

The county is required to try to get in touch with the property owner in several ways so he or she has more than adequate notice of the impending publication and sale.

The sale itself is always on the last Monday in August.

The tax assessor-collector’s office is responsible for dealing with delinquent taxes right up to the moment of sale. After that, any efforts toward redemption have to go through the chancery clerk’s office.