Excerpt from Tax Lien Lady's State Guide

In the teleseminar that I did on last Thursday on Finding the Best Place for You to Invest in Tax Liens or Tax Deeds, someone had asked about the redemption period and interest rates in Georgia. Georgia is a redeemable deed state, and I didn't have all the particulars for that state readily available. I decided to put that information here on this blog so that everyone who registered for the teleseminar can read it. Below is an excerpt from my State Guide about Georgia tax sales. The blue link is a link to the NACO.org web site for Georgia, and from that site you can access the county tax collectors web page.

Georgia

Georgia is a redeemable deed state. Georgia sells deeds with a one year right of redemption and a 20% penalty for the first year or fraction thereof. After the first year the deed purchaser is entitled to an additional 10% penalty for each subsequent year or fraction of a year until the lien is redeemed. In Georgia, the County Tax Commissioner is responsible for conducting tax sales for the collection of unpaid taxes. Tax sales are advertised for four consecutive weeks in the legal section of the county newspaper. Some counties hold tax sales every month. The opening bid is equal to the amount of taxes due plus costs of the sale. Properties are sold to the highest bidder. If no one bids over the opening bid, the property will be "bid in" for the county. Most counties require payment for the amount of the bid at the time of sale in cash, money order, or certified funds. If the highest bidder fails to or refuses to comply with the terms of sale, the property may be resold and the first bidder held responsible for any deficiency arising from the latter sale. Once the tax sale is concluded and the high bidder fulfills their obligation to pay, the tax commissioner issues a tax deed to the purchaser. The tax deed is not a warranty deed. It is up to the purchaser to check the validity of title to the property. The purchaser will be responsible for property taxes as they become due. The amount of any tax paid, however, may be added to the redemption price. After the one year redemption period is over, the purchaser of the deed must take legal steps to close the right of redemption in order to obtain the property. There are 159 counties in Georgia, they do not all have tax information online but some of the larger counties have both assessment information and tax sale information online.