Tax sale withdrawn 3rd day of online auction

I’m witness to a recent tax sale withdrawal on bid4assets.com that doesn’t seem right. Usually I see all withdrawals happen the day before auction(last day for redemption).

For this particular lot sale which was offered at a lower starting bid second time same year for 18k (because someone who bid $54k for a 27k tax default amount apparenty did not pay up), the withdrawal happened the 3rd (last) day of auction.

I called county and I was informed by Asst. Tax Collector that it was withdrawn because:

  • a lien holder on the property bought some sort of legal action to stop the sale and paid taxes while auction was in progress
  • county did not identify the lien holder during notice period. I highly doubt it because I got prelim title report from local title company(for free) and the only lien on it other than tax lien was a deed of trust. Seemed hard to miss.

Can county tax office legally let people pay their taxes when the auction started?

I’m not aware of laws but why would anyone waste their time and participate in an auction knowing redemption can stop the sale any minute while you are bidding on it?

O wise men, please speak your mind. What do you think?

Hi,

First of all the host site www.bid4assets.com is a private company and not affiliated with any local, county, state or federal government agency. 

Second a county tax collector using this site probable in good faith to market and sell assets owned by the specific government can make mistakes and can be subject to outside influences outside of their control.

A mortgage debt can be sold days or weeks before auction where new mortgage owners were never notified of impending sale in advance and upon discovery immediately notified government agencies of new ownership and intention to pay back taxes and redeem the property.

Yes, government agencies are subject to many outside influences including improper notice service, change of owner, court orders, bankruptcy filings, etc.

How many properties have I bid on I did not win? It’s essentially the same thing, you win some and you lose some.

And the 3 wise men came to Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in the stable 2000 plus years ago. Were only humans!

First, YES the tax liens does not mature until the day it was sold last time…so the county or anyone can come in BEFORE that date and pay up .

SECOND: fairrly common occurrence. …Just got a list of about 25 properties in that category. Most state statutes give reason the sale can be revoked or removed. The taxing jurisdiction and the courts do not particularly like to take property for the simple mistake of not paying taxes…the most common defense in quiet title is …“But, your honor I was not PROPERLY notified.”

THis sort of thing is as I said, "Fairly commeon"if you are in the tax lien business.