Background, not advice.

A tax deed is all that right the taxing authority has to sell. The tax deed does not convey title, but represents a defeasible interest, which here means a monetary amount the purchaser may recover from the owner or interest holder as set forth under O.C.G.A. 48-4-42 (amount payable for redemption). In Georgia law, the tax deed has no warranty or representation of good title. A tax deed is said to be inchoate, qualified, or defeasible estate. The tax title ripens upon the expiration of the (1) foreclosure or (2) other conditions, and is terminated upon redemption.

[First 12 Months] In Georgia, the defendant in fifa, the former owner, and any holder of a property interest has an absolute right for a 12 month period after the sale to redeem the property?

[After 12 Months] The expiration of this 12 month period does not entitle the purchaser to the property. Instead, 12 months from the date of a tax sale, the purchaser or his heirs, successors, or assigns may terminate, foreclose, divest, and forever bar the right to redeem the property from the sale by causing a notice or notices of the foreclosure to be served upon all of the persons entitled to notice. This process is called the barment.

If the defendant in fifa, the former owner, or any holder of a property interest wants to redeem before the barment process expires, the tax deed purchaser must quitclaim the property as required by law.

The tax deed does not give the right to possession, or to rents, and profits, and the tax deed gives no right to sue for trespass or value destroyed until the right to redemption is terminated.

Follow the steps outlined in O.C.G.A. §§ 48-4-45 and 48-4-46.

• The delinquent taxpayer & interested persons must be given notice that is reasonably calculated under the circumstances to show the foreclosure.
• Actual notice must be attempted.
• Notice must be sent to those interested parties whose names and addresses are ascertained by reasonably diligent efforts through every reasonable channel of information.

The foreclosure process, including notices of foreclosure, must be recorded on the real estate records memorializing the successful completion of the foreclosure of the right of redemption.

A properly foreclosed title may extinguish all prior titles, bar all liens, and may discharge some liens under federal law. However, the tax title acquires only that right, title, or interest that was vested in the defendant in fi-fa. Generally, the tax deed purchaser is entitled to possession of the property. Possession is the right to use and control land through occupation, enclosure, cultivation, and improvement, among other rights. However, it is typically required that a tax deed purchaser complete a quiet title action before a lender will consider the property to have a clear and marketable title.

Common missteps that occur from the inexperienced tax deed purchaser attempting the DIY foreclosure of the right of redemption:

• Considering the tax deed to ripen into rights by the mere passage of time.
• Failure to take reasonably diligent steps to locate the owner/interest holders and notify them.
• Failure to give at least 30 days in advance of the expiration of the foreclosure.
• Failure to memorialize the successful completion.
• Failure to establish title under the prescription requirements.

Adverse possession of lands for four years requires the enclosure, cultivation, or any use and occupation of the lands which is so notorious as to attract the attention of every adverse claimant and so exclusive as to prevent actual occupation by another. For example, timber cutting and use as a range for livestock does not constitute actual possession without a fence. Periodic maintenance, such a mowing and picking up trash for 17 years, as well as demolishing a dilapidated structure on the property is insufficient to prove adverse possession.