Paying back taxes (foreclosure, mortgage, loan)

[countrykicker]

Does anyone know? We built a house 2 years ago and didn't actually report it to the county since we do not live in the city limits. We have been being taxed the same for property tax as we did without the house. Once the county finds out that the house was built do they go back and bill for the difference in taxes for those 2 years?

thanks

[hoffdano]

Does this mean you are being taxed on the lot because you owned it before you built a house? But the county doesn't know you built a house?
You must have built the home without getting any building permits from the county.

I'm not a lawyer so my comment isn't especially credible. But I will guess that you owe back taxes. I think you are by law obligated to require taxes on property you own. For a new home, they should be pro-rated in a partial year.

I think the longer you go without action - the worse the county will treat you when the time comes for you to pay the correct amoun. You can say "I didn't know" for a while, but that probably won't work for too long.

[verybadgnome]

As far as I know unincorporated areas of the county outside of any ETJ are only required to get a septic permit in order to build a home. I have heard that some people do not acquire this but then I wouldn't know how other utilities, e.g. electricity or gas, are accessed.

Yeah I don't know how know taxes were paid even before the house was built. Even undeveloped parcels have a land value that gets taxed.

[ROY DUBOSE]

this is a trap so many folks fell into when mortgage money was so easy -- the builder would qualify a prospect based on undeveloped (lot) property and escrow taxes accordingly -- once the loan was closed (reported to the tax assessor) it took sometimes 14 mths for the loan servicer to find out there wasn't enough money in the kitty to cover much less make the pot good for the coming year so the monthly payment got increased hundreds of dollars -- foreclosure was just a step away

some taxing entity is gonna find out sometime so i'd think it's better to take the medicine now -- it is up to them to determine when you put the house on the property though -- once you do get 'em out there, you probably should challenge their appraised value from the get-go --

[CptnRn]

In some cases a building permit is required even outside of the CoA city limits, if it is within the CoA ETJ (Extra Territorial Jurisdiction). This probably happens more often then most people realize, and I expect that both the City and County will be willing to work with you to correct this if you come forward about it.

[countrykicker]

just to clarify the land was already developed, it had a mobile home on it. we sold the mobile and built a house so it already had all the septic and such. we didn't have to pull any other permits.
we just didn't tell them it was there. figured they would find out on their own but they haven't.

[CptnRn]

A septic system sized and permitted for a mobile may not meet the code requirements for a larger house. That is something else you should look into.