Oh great beeb please provide me with some wisdom... If you had a property that was worth say 1.2 million and owed about $750,000 in back property taxes to the city that it was located in, wouldn't you have to settle that debt in order to transfer ownership during the sale of said property? I would imagine that any debt to the municipality, regardless of size, would need to be addressed at the closing correct? This is in Connecticut if that matters.
yes, they typically put a lien on the property and you cannot do anything with the property unless the title to the house is clear.
They are correct, normally if you have a tax lien, it is settled by 1)taking the land/property etc. and selling it to recoupe losses i.e. sherrif sales, 2)placing a lien on the property which the seller/buyer would need to payoff, contrary to what seems right, the seller is NOT the only one who can pay it off, buyer could if they wanted it that bad.... in order to transfer ownership.
another angle is to question the "assessed" value on which the property taxes were levied. Especially the past couple of years. Typically all you need are a couple of comparable sales to support your case. Interest and penalties will still be charged but sometimes can be significantly reduced.
Thanks for the replies. It's a very long story that prompted me to ask this and I obviously don't own this property but some of us are wondering how a very "controversial" piece of industrial property changed hands in the city of Milford CT when there was that kind of tax owed on it.
Big difference in "back taxes due" versus "sold for taxes". Unless someone already has a Tax Deed to the property, there's nothing to stop the owners from selling to anybody they want to. A bank would surely require the taxes to be current before loaning any money on it, but if there's no financing involved, or other financing secured elsewhere, there's no law or statute that says the owner can't sell it. The new owners would just be liable for the taxes. Now if the taxes have already been sold, and someone has gotten a tax deed for it, that's a whole 'nother story . . .
Oh there was other financing involved alright.... from people from the country shaped like a boot. In any case, I think you may have hit the nail on the head.
Short sale.....buyer assumes all responsibilities. Sometimes you can set up a purchase with a local municipality willing to waive the lien in order to obtain a new taxpaying customer, but that usually happens in estate cases when the state has nobody left to collect from.
Ah, it's all clear to me now. Controversial industrial property + Financing by Guido = Re-opening soon under new management. Bring small bills. :up:
Yep you got it right. Guess what kind of business? Waste processing... no bullshit. We were thinking the city cut some shady deal but based on what you said before that may not be true.
Saw that happen back in PA. A prominently located piece of commercial property that had a McDonalds leased on it. Property owner was into the city for years of back taxes. Ended up getting sold to a "local business developer" who had the city wipe out the tax bill and never went up for public auction. The "developer" was charged with bribery (and never served any jail time). Talk about crooked politics.
That's funny. You should watch the last few episodes of Chicago Code. Seems like waste management is a good business for disposing of all sorts of things.
We have a similar issue with a restaurant in our complex here, but different outcome. Scumbag owner decides to stop paying his bills, while still driving around in his 6-figure cars. Sure enough, the landlord evicts him after 4+ months of no rent ($80K due in rent). According to the lease, the landlord owns all items in the unit (appliances, fixtures, etc). He figures at least he'll be able to rent a turn key restaurant and get some money back over time. After the eviction, he learns that the jerk owed another $100K in back taxes and utility bills, so the State is forcing the landlord to auction off all material in the restaurant. Approvals for the auction take months. Landlord can't do a thing with the place until the tax debt is settled.
