Well, despite rising interest rates, the Pima County tax lien sale saw interest rates hit historic lows – down to one and two percent on improved properties. Arizona real property tax liens are sold on a bid-down basis. This means that each lien starts at a potential 16% statutory maximum and is bid down to … [Read more…]
For as safe as tax liens are touted, there is a risk of loss, especially during the tax lien foreclosure stage. While Arizona Revised Statutes Section 42-18206 provides a remedy to collect attorney’s fees and costs that have been incurred by the tax lien investor, timely service of process of the tax lien foreclosure complaint … [Read more…]
So, you have likely heard it pitched that there is little risk investing in tax liens. By and large, that maxim rings true. Most people purchase tax liens because they can achieve a very high interest rate and know that the lien they have purchased is secured by the underlying real property. The dynamics of … [Read more…]
When an owner of real property in Arizona fails to pay her real property taxes, the County Treasurer will offer to investors the opportunity to purchase a tax lien against the real property in the form of a Certificate of Purchase. The successful bidder for the tax lien pays the delinquent taxes, fees, and penalties, … [Read more…]
David Funkhouser and Benjamin Nielsen, attorneys with Quarles & Brady LLP, recently warned in their Commercial Litigation Law Update that Arizona tax lien foreclosures are wreaking havoc on lenders and borrowers. Quarles & Brady represents many large banks and lenders, so it should come as little surprise that they are concerned about the impact of … [Read more…]
The Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) was created by the mortgage industry to fast-track the loan assignment process and helped bypass the burden of having to record every assignment. MERS was a perfect solution during the mortgage securitization frenzy. When the housing bubble imploded and foreclosure activity went through the roof, MERS found itself the target … [Read more…]
Joseph Smith, the monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement has reported that the five major banks have officially fulfilled the consumer relief obligations of the National Mortgage Settlement. He further reported that the banks have provided more than $50 billion of gross relief, which allegedly equates to more than $20 billion in credited relief. Smith … [Read more…]
Well, the 2014 tax lien sales in Arizona are complete. I attended the Pima County tax lien sale where over $10 million dollars of tax liens were sold over the course of two days. What was readily apparent from the beginning is that investors looking to fetch high interest rates on tax liens were going … [Read more…]
The Arizona Court of Appeals (Division 2) recently issued an opinion regarding the extent to which parties must be noticed in a tax lien foreclosure action. In this case, the subject real property (the "Property") was owned by Robert and Carri Anderson. The Property had a first position Deed of Trust, securing the Promissory Note. The … [Read more…]
So, the election is over and the "fiscal cliff" is awaiting. Will The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 (the "Act") be extended? Given its bi-partisan support in the past, I would venture to say that it likely will be extended another year. The extension of the Act is a concern for many given … [Read more…]