Property Tax Foreclosures

A May 25, 2023, Supreme Court decision highlights the unique issues surrounding property tax foreclosures. This aggregated resource page includes homeowner tactics to avoid or respond to a tax foreclosure--which involve different approaches and procedures than for a mortgage foreclosure.  

Housing Toolbox Home

 

Treatise Content

Home Foreclosures 

Chapter 16, Property Tax and Tax Foreclosures
16.1 An Overview of the Process
16.2 Real Property Taxation Process
16.3 Preventing Property Tax Foreclosures
16.4 Redemption Following Sale
16.5 Fraud by Tax Sale Speculators
16.6 Private Collection and Enforcement of Tax Liens
16.7 Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Tax Assessments
Appendix F Summary of State Real Estate Tax Abatement Laws
Appendix G Summary of State Tax Lien Foreclosure Laws

 

Surviving Debt 

Chapter 19, Property Taxes and Tax Sales
Overview Chapter on Property Tax Rights  (without legal citations)
Introduction
Reducing Property Tax Debt
Managing Seriously Delinquent Property Tax Debt
Contesting a Tax Sale
Setting Aside a Completed Tax Sale
Redemption Following the Tax Sale
Additional Resources

 

 

 

front covers of NCLC's Home Foreclosures and Surviving Debt books

Treatise content requires a subscription. Chapter One of each treatise is available for free on the NCLC Digital Library. To add a subscription to your library, visit the bookstore. Surviving Debt is available in print for $20 or in digital format for free on the NCLC Digital Library. Learn more here.

 

 

 

 

photo of conference attendees in a session

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Conference Materials

Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 1: Overview and Constitutional Law Issues (Mortgage Conference 2022)
Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 1: Overview and Constitutional Law Issues (PowerPoint)
Excessive Fines Clause
Notice of Post-Sale Procedures and Right of Redemption
Tax Sale as Unconstitutional Taking of Homeowner’s Equity in Property

Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 2: Racial Justice Issues, Policy Solutions, Legal Defenses, and Bankruptcy Strategies (Mortgage Conference 2022)
Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 2: Racial Justice Issues, Policy Solutions, Legal Defenses, and Bankruptcy Strategies (PowerPoint)
Outline: Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 2: Racial Justice Issues, Policy Solutions, Legal Defenses, and Bankruptcy Strategies
Investing in Distress: Tax Delinquency and Predatory Tax Buying in Urban America
Nonprofit Legal Services Help Homeowners Struggling With Property Taxes Keep Their Homes

Using the FHA and ECOA to Combat Housing and Credit Discrimination (CRLC 2021)
Second Amended Complaint, Morningside Cmty. Org. v. Sabree (Mich. Wayne Cnty. Cir. Ct. Mar. 3, 2017)

 

Conference Videos

Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 1: Overview and Constitutional Law Issues (Mortgage Conference 2022)
Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 1: Overview and Constitutional Law Issues (Video)

Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 2: Racial Justice Issues, Policy Solutions, Legal Defenses, and Bankruptcy Strategies (Mortgage Conference 2022)
Property Tax Foreclosures, Part 2: Racial Justice Issues, Policy Solutions, Legal Defenses, and Bankruptcy Strategies (Video)

 

Articles & Reports

NCLC, What States Can Do to Reduce Property Tax Foreclosures (Oct. 10, 2023)
NCLC, Property Tax Foreclosures on Heirs' Property (Aug. 2023)
NCLC, Supreme Court Stops Equity Theft in Property Tax Foreclosures (June 2023)

 

2023 Supreme Court Ruling on Surplus After Tax Sale


Full text of Tyler v. Hennepin County (May 25, 2023)
Brief of Amicus Curiae in Tyler v. Hennepin County by AARP, AARP Foundation, and NCLC 

 

Key Links

How to Prevent Tax Liens and Tax Foreclosures from Depleting Wealth from Older Homeowners, Especially in Communities of Color (Sept. 2022) by Odette Williamson and Sarah Mancini, NCLC and Patti Prunhuber and Jennifer Kye, Justice in Aging
The Other Foreclosure Crisis: Property Tax Lien Sales (July 2012) by John Rao, NCLC
Frequently Asked Questions, about the Madeline Walker Act, RIHousing
How a Small Group of Investors Turned Distressed Baltimore Neighborhoods into Profit Centers (March 29, 2023), by Sophie Kasakove and Nick Thieme, the Baltimore Banner
Tangled Titles: Philadelphia Explores Heirs' Property Solutions to Boost Generation Wealth (Apr. 8, 2022) by David Slade, The Post and Courier
Picket v. City of Cleveland (N. D. Ohio Sept. 29, 2020) (order) (FHA and Ohio disparate impact and due process claims can go forward concerning abuses regarding water billing leading to tax liens and takings)
Picket v. City of Cleveland (N.D. Ohio Dec. 18, 2019 ) (class action complaint)  (various claims including FHA and Ohio disparate impact and due process concerning abuses regarding water billing leading to tax liens and takings).
Water/Color: A Study of Race and the Water Affordability Crisis in America's Cities (2019), by Coty Montag, Thurgood Marshall Institute at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Video

 

Many states will be re-writing their property tax foreclosure laws in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Tyler v.  Hennepin County. This opens up a window of opportunity to broadly improve property tax systems. One of the most important ways to prevent tax foreclosure is to ensure that low-income and older homeowners have access to all available exemptions and discounts. Yet many older adults who are at risk of tax foreclosure have not taken advantage of all the existing tax relief options available to them. Heirs who have inherited a family home are even less likely to get access to these benefits.

This session will dive into the most impactful policy solutions to reduce the tax burdens on older adults, low-income people, and people of color, leaving you with actionable steps to work for change in your community. 

Speakers: