Dealing with Delinquent Tax Liens (2013, credit report, attorney)

[ATL Golfer]

I sold an investment property in 2013, in January actually.

My pro rata share of taxes for the year were collected at closing.

The new owner then decides she isn't going to pay taxes when the bill comes 7 mths later.

The county/city show me as owner on January 1st so they file liens in my name.

I have called the city/county and the people I happen to speak to on the phone say I'm S.O.L.

I try to explain that they have a deed of public record showing the transfer... they say there is nothing to do.

Has anyone gone through this? It didn't kill my credit, but definitely gave it an upper cut.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by ATL Golfer

I sold an investment property in 2013, in January actually.

My pro rata share of taxes for the year were collected at closing.

The new owner then decides she isn't going to pay taxes when the bill comes 7 mths later.

The county/city show me as owner on January 1st so they file liens in my name.

I have called the city/county and the people I happen to speak to on the phone say I'm S.O.L.

I try to explain that they have a deed of public record showing the transfer... they say there is nothing to do.

Has anyone gone through this? It didn't kill my credit, but definitely gave it an upper cut.

Get in touch with the closing attorney. I believe that would be your best path to resolving this.

[netdragon]

Is this Fulton? In Fulton, the tax is assessed Jan 1 and the taxpayer on record is the one that owned the property at that time.

https://www.fultoncountytaxes.org/pr...taxes/faq.aspx

This is very serious for your credit and you need to move fast. It probably doesn't hurt to do what AnsleyPark said, but don't waste time. A tax lien will wreck your credit.

What you want Fulton County to do is CANCEL the lien, not mark it satisfied, and make sure to do this BEFORE any credit bureaus pick it up under public records. If they agree to mark it cancelled, it is done by the county every week in court for paid balances and you should receive the lien in the mail with cancelled stamped on it. If it's only marked satisfied, it'll be on public records and still wreck your credit for years. If you let it get to a tax sale, it will still be on your credit report and still wreck it, even though you won't have to pay a bit of money to whoever bought the lien - that'd be for the buyer to worry about. But there's no solace in that your credit will be wrecked. I had a tax lien once on an investment property just because I wasn't paying attention and got the date wrong to pay it. I got it cancelled when I paid it and it isn't on my credit report.

IF it's cancelled and it already got picked up by credit bureaus, you can send them documentation and get it removed, but that's a huge hassle you don't want them to deal with.

Once it's on LexisNexus, it's going to get picked up when the bureaus do their next automated reviews. They won't tell you when this is.

Keep in mind that if the closing attorney says that the buyer should have paid the taxes, you can pay it to get the tax lien removed (make sure to get Fulton to agree to cancel it, in writing) and place your own lien on the property by filing it in court if you show proper records. The way that properties are appreciating right now, you'll get your money back, and you protect your credit score.

[TommyTipover]

Save money. Find the new owner and beat the crap out of them until they pay. Problem solved.