Buying Abbotsford Tax Sale Properties….
Someone called me last week and asked about properties being sold by City of Abbotsford because of tax deliquency. Here is some basic information for all of you who are curious about tax sales.
The City is required by the Local Government Act to sell, at tax sale, all properties for which taxes have not been paid for three years. The Local Government Act gives the Collector authority to sell a property for the “UPSET PRICE”, which equals all outstanding taxes + penalties + interest + 5% tax sale costs + Land Title Office fees.
Tax sale is conducted every year on the last Monday of September. The Collector offers properties – on which taxes are delinquent – for sale by public auction. Notice is published prior to the tax sale advising of the time and place of the sale. Check the local papers and city website for these notices.
On the day of the auction, subject property is sold to the highest bidder above the minimum bid which usually equals to the amount of delinquent taxes plus any penalties and interest. If there is no bid, or no bid equal to the minimum set price, the local government is declared the purchaser.
Within one year from the day of the tax sale, the sold property may be redeemed by the owner, an owner of a registered charge against the property (IE: the lender), or by another person on behalf of the owner or registered charge against the property.
On redemption of a property, the purchaser is entitled to receive refund of all amounts paid by the purchaser, together with interest to the date of redemption at the rate prescribed in the Taxation (Rural Area) Act.
In the unlikely event a property is not redeemed within the redemption period, the Collector registers the new owner with the Registrar of the Land Title Office. It is very rare that a property will change hands as a result of a Tax Sale, as either the property owner or mortgage holder usually redeems the property within the prescribed period.