Enforcement of Tax Liens

This year, one subject that raised a lot of questions related to title to real estate acquired by the foreclosure process for failure to pay real estate taxes and the sales of those properties. Although the process is laid out very clearly in the statute, Title 36, particularly §§ 942 and 943, it has proven challenging for tax assessors to always get things right. The Law Court has been very clear that if there is even a minor error in the tax foreclosure process, it will be declared to be void if challenged by the taxpayer.

One of the particular areas of concern is the requirement under Title 36, Section 943 (the so-called 30-day notice), which must be served to complete the foreclosure process. A common mistake that is made is that the notice is simply sent to the address of the property itself, rather than to the owner’s usual place of abode, or last known address. Another problem we have seen is that when a town isn’t careful, it assesses property to one property owner when there are multiple property owners, including husbands and wives. A notice of foreclosure only sent to one property owner may not be effective against the property as a whole, and, at a minimum, will not be effective against the interests of the property owner who was not notified. Even when it is clear that the process was handled properly, towns often choose to file a quiet title action to ensure that they have good title to property before attempting to re-sell it. The title standards of the bar generally require a ten-year waiting period for titles to be considered clear. There is no impediment to the town selling the property once it obtains title through the foreclosure process, even if title has not been declared by a court. It is critical that the assessor carefully follows the exact process laid out in Title 36, §§ 942 and 943, for the municipality to properly acquire title to property acquired because of tax delinquency.

Tax Lien Foreclosure – Rights of Mortgage Holders and Unassessed Owners

Experienced tax collectors and treasurers know that mortgage holders and unassessed owners of record have the right to receive copies of certain notices during the tax lien foreclosure process. But what are these entities’ precise rights, and how can towns and cities address the statutory requirements without spending tons of time doing title searches?

A tax collector is not required to send mortgage holders or unassessed owners a copy of the initial 30-day notice. However, 30-A M.R.S.A. § 942 does require that a copy of the lien certificate be sent to such entities at the time it is recorded. Failure to do so gives those entities an additional three months to redeem the property beyond the date they received actual notice that the tax lien certificate was recorded. Mortgage holders must also receive a copy of the 30-45 day notice of impending foreclosure under 30-A M.R.S.A. § 943. Failure to send this notice gives the mortgage holder an extra 30 days beyond the date the notice is actually provided. Although the statute does not state that unassessed owners must receive a copy of this notice, it is good practice to send one.

A municipality cannot know for sure who is entitled to notice unless a title search is performed on the exact date the notice is being sent out. For municipalities with many delinquent taxpayers, it would be impractical to do a title update on each of the properties for which a tax lien certificate will be recorded. After all, most of these taxes are usually paid well before the foreclosure date. However, a town’s efforts to sell tax-acquired property can become subject to legal challenge if it is found after foreclosure that a bank or unassessed owner was not notified. This is particularly true if the bank finds out about the foreclosure after the town sells the property!

It is always safest to check the Registry before sending out any tax lien notices. However, if this is not practical, we recommend that the Treasurer set a reminder to check the Registry around four months prior to the foreclosure date. This will allow time to send out copies of the lien certificates so that any extension will fall within the redemption period, rather than extend it. It will also help secure the foreclosure process against legal challenge.