Cochise
The yearly tax lien sale will be held at
The sale, which will seek to collect $2,526,069.72 in unpaid 2008 property taxes, will be held on Thursday, February 25, starting 12:00 noon.
4,501 property owners have been notified that liens will be sold on their delinquent parcels. Notices are being published on February 3rd, 2010 in the San Pedro Valley News-Sun, the county's legal newspaper.
Properties are placed into the sale when taxes have not been paid on them for one year, unless there has been a bankruptcy or court action to keep the property from the sale.
Both individual and corporate investors, who stand to earn up to 16% interest from the transaction or acquire the property through foreclosure, usually purchase liens.
Anyone interested in bidding at the tax lien sale must
register at the T
Interest rates are determined during the bidding traditionally conducted on the last Thursday in February each year. Investors buy assignments of the tax lien (Certificates of Purchase issued by the Treasurer) on the delinquent properties.
The Tax lien sale is not a land auction. The investor is only purchasing the tax lien and therefore has no claim to the property until a lien is foreclosed upon, and a Judgment deed is issued. This procedure may begin three years from the date of the sale.
Typically 100 plus people attend the sale, however interest in the sale has increased and the interest rate bid has become lower.
Property owners who owe back taxes can remove their parcels from the sale list by paying the amount due in full.
In order to obtain a property lien, investors pay all back
taxes, interest, penalties and fees due by the end of the sale day. Payment must be made at the Cochise County
Treasurer's Office located at
Once an investor acquires the lien on a parcel, owners still make their payments to the county. The county in turn pays the investor. If the owner pays the amount owing in full to the investor, the lien is cleared.
Tips for Bidding
Anyone interested in bidding at the tax lien sale must
register at the Cochise County T
The yearly tax lien sale is held at
Payment for the tax liens must be made the same day as the sale at the Treasurer's Office.
Anyone considering purchasing multiple lots for resale may
want to check with Arizona Department of Real Estate about their regulations
and requirements. The department has
offices in
In offering the tax liens for sale, the parcel numbers will
be called in the order in which they appear on the printed list as advertised
in the newspaper. Many items in the original list will have been paid since the
advertising and will not be called.
To bid on a parcel that is called at the sale, raise your hand and call the rate of interest you bid. The bid is by descending order: 16%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1% and 0%. The bid is the rate of the interest income received by the investor collected at the time of redemption. The bid will be awarded to the person who bids the lowest rate of interest.
Anyone with a legal interest in a parcel will be awarded the bid at 0% interest, if proof of legal interest is provided at the Treasurer's Office prior to the sale.
A bid number can be assigned to an individual, multiple
individuals or businesses. If an investor wishes to bid individually on
some parcels and then wishes to be combined with another individual, individuals
or a business on other parcels they will need to complete a separate bidder
application with the appropriate information.
Once a bid number has been issued to the investor or investors they will
keep the same bid number each year as long as they bid in
Any lien that is not sold at the sale will be assigned to
the State of
If you are awarded the bid on a lien, announce your bid
number. As soon as you have bid on all
the parcels you are interested in, you may leave to pay at the Treasurer's
Office located in the same complex as the Board of Supervisors meeting room, at
The delinquent tax listing this year has 4,501 parcels on
which liens can be offered. The list
also contains 6,058 back tax parcels that have been offered at prior tax lien
sales and have not been sold. This list
is updated monthly at the www.cochise.az.gov
website at the T
General Information Regarding
After a tax is delinquent for one calendar year, it is
offered in a Tax Lien Sale which is held at
In order to acquire property through a tax lien sale, anyone interested must purchase an assignment on the property in which he is interested by paying all taxes, interest, penalties and fees due. The purchaser must keep the subsequent taxes and fees on the property paid for three years from the date of the sale. Annual subsequent payments may be made after June 1.
Bids on certificates are by descending interest rates. The maximum rate is 16%. All assignments issued after the tax sale are sold at 16%. The Treasurer will issue the purchaser of an assignment a Certificate of Purchase. The Certificate is presented each time subsequent tax payments are made and must be surrendered if the redemption is made.
The property is not sold; only a lien for delinquent taxes is sold at the sale. A purchaser has no legal right to the property until such time as a Judicial Deed is issued. A certificate holder may not improve the property or make any claim to the property until the Judicial Deed is issued.
Anyone with a legal interest in the property as well as the
owner may redeem the property anytime until a deed is actually issued to the
certificate holder, per
After three years from the date of the sale, a certificate holder may file in the Superior Court, an action to foreclose the right to redeem. The court will then issue a judgment for a deed. If the redemption is made after court action has begun any court costs and the attorney fees are collected by the attorney from the redeemer. The Treasurer's Office collects only taxes, interest and county fees and costs.
Subsequent Tax Payment Information
The purchaser of a tax lien must pay the subsequent taxes on the parcel listed on the Certificate of Purchase each year to retain the lien.
The purchaser cannot make subsequent tax payments until the full year's tax is delinquent. The annual payment of tax, accrued interest, and related fees will be accepted on or after June 1st each year.
The Certificate of Purchase MUST accompany each subsequent tax payment. The subsequent tax payment shall be endorsed on the certificate by the Treasurer's office in order for the purchaser to receive interest from the property owner upon redemption.
A fee of five dollars ($5.00) per parcel is charged for each subsequent tax payment. Do not send subsequent tax payments without sending the certificate of purchase to be endorsed.
The property tax statement will continue to be mailed to the property owner. A sub tax statement will be mailed by the Treasurer's office to each purchaser May 15th each year.
If the purchaser wishes information on the current sub tax prior to May 15, the purchaser must request the information from the Treasurer's office.
Any letters sent to the Treasurer's office about a certificate or to request amount for sub tax, should always list the Certificate of Purchase number and the tax parcel identification number.
If the purchaser of a tax lien certificate defaults on the certificate by failing to pay the sub tax, a second certificate will be issued on the property. The first certificate will be redeemed when the second certificate is sold.
All subsequent taxes must be paid prior to a judicial foreclosure.