Tax Claim – Delinquent Taxes
If You Have Delinquent Taxes Please Read The Following Information Below.
To make a payment on your delinquent taxes, use our new online system here…
Pay Taxes OnlineDelinquent Claim Notices are mailed to the owners of each parcel.
The Bureau accepts full or partial payments for delinquent taxes. The forms of payment accepted are check, cashiers check, certified check, and money order. We do not accept cash as a form of payment in this office. We do accept Visa, MasterCard or Discover Card debit or credit payments in the office. Additional fees for the use of a debit and/or credit card are charged directly to the taxpayer. We do not take any payments online or over the telephone.
After one (1) year, if the tax liens are not paid in full, the parcels are subjected to Upset Sale. The sales proceedings are costly to the property owners and the process takes about six (6) months. During this time, the Bureau staff is in constant contact with the owners, mortgagors, etc. in an attempt to stay the sale of the properties through payment. The property owners actually have up until sale time to pay the taxes and remove the property from the sales list.
The Bureau’s purpose is to collect taxes, we are NOT in the real estate business. Parcels that do not sell at Upset Sale are sometimes sold at a subsequent continuation of the Upset Sale, but more often are subjected to the Judicial Sale process.
The delinquent property owners are NOT permitted to bid on their own property at Judicial Sale. If property remains unsold after exposure to Judicial Sale, it is placed in a category termed “Repository for Unsold Properties”.
A list of these properties is available to the general public during normal business hours. The delinquent property owners are NOT permitted to bid on their property.
Additional information can be obtained from the Bureau by calling during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:00pm, or by submitting a written inquiry and a SASE for the information requested.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q. What does it mean that my property has been liened?
A. Real Estate taxes are a first lien on the property. The lien is removed automatically upon payment in full.
Q. I paid my taxes to my tax collector last year.
A. Please provide this office with a paid receipt and a copy of the front and back of the cancelled check so that we may investigate the matter.
Q. My escrow statement shows that my mortgage company paid my taxes.
A. If you believe your taxes were paid through an escrow account, please ask your escrow company or mortgage holder, to provide proof of payment (cancelled checks, front and back). Most often, the bank may have issued a check to the tax collector, but the check was returned to them for a technical reason and was not reissued correctly.
Q. This is the first notice I’ve received/I never got a bill for this tax.
A. Tax Claim is not a taxing authority and does not issue real estate tax bills. Please contact your local tax collector to find out why you didn’t receive a bill for this tax. That said, not receiving a bill in the mail does not mean you aren’t responsible for paying the bill.
Q. I am not able to pay the full amount of delinquent taxes, can I make partial payments?
A. We do accept partial payments, however the entire bill must be paid prior to the Upset Sale, and interest and costs will continue to accrue until it is paid in full.
Q. Can penalties be waived?
A. Penalties are added by the taxing authorities and Tax Claim has no authority to remove them.
Q. Can I make an agreement to stop the sale of my property?
A. Agreements are only for properties that will be eligible for the current year Upset Sale. If a property owner has defaulted on a previous agreement, we cannot offer an agreement again for at least three years. All agreements are at the sole discretion of the Director of Tax Claim.