Behind on property taxes in Cobb County?

How a tax sale works in Cobb County

In Georgia, unpaid property taxes can lead to a tax sale: a public auction, usually held at the courthouse on the first Tuesday of a month and conducted by a county officer such as the sheriff or the tax commissioner. The buyer receives a tax deed. After most Georgia tax sales the former owner, and others with an interest in or lien on the property, keep a right to redeem it. That right does not last forever: it can be ended by steps the law sets out, and different, shorter rules apply after a court-ordered (in rem) tax sale.

The sale is run by the officer enforcing the tax execution, usually the county sheriff or the tax commissioner, as a public auction. A city may hold its own sale for city taxes.

Path 1: Keep the house

A tax sale generally does not go ahead once the delinquent taxes, interest, penalties and costs are paid in full before it happens. If a sale does happen, the law gives owners some rights afterward, described below.

The Cobb County Tax Commissioner’s office collects county and state property taxes and keeps those account balances. Some cities collect their own property taxes separately.

• Payment in full of the taxes owed, with interest, penalties and costs, before the sale generally stops it. Tax commissioners differ on whether they offer payment arrangements.

After a sale: redemption

Redemption generally means paying the tax-sale buyer the amount the buyer paid at the sale, plus taxes and certain assessments the buyer paid afterward, a premium set by law and certain costs. After a non-court tax sale, the right to redeem cannot be cut off sooner than 12 months after the sale. After that, the buyer can end it with a formal notice that states a deadline, and the right ends when that deadline passes. A tax deed can also become final with time even without such a notice. Different, shorter rules apply after a court-ordered (in rem) tax sale.

In Georgia, after a non-court tax sale, the right to redeem cannot be cut off sooner than 12 months after the sale, and it stays open after that until it is ended in a way the law allows (O.C.G.A. §§ 48-4-40, 48-4-45). After a court-ordered (in rem) sale the rules are different. The period for a particular property can differ.

Path 2: Claim surplus money from a sale

If a tax sale brings in more than the taxes and costs owed, the officer who conducted the sale generally holds the excess and must send notice of it to the owner of record at the time of the sale and to others with a recorded interest, such as a security deed holder. Excess funds are paid out in order of legal priority, so lenders and lienholders may be paid before the former owner. After a court-ordered (in rem) sale, any surplus is paid into the court instead.

What happens after five years in Georgia: excess funds that stay unclaimed for five years are sent to the Georgia Department of Revenue, and after that they can be recovered only through a court (interpleader) order in the county where the sale took place (O.C.G.A. § 48-4-5(c)).

Excess funds can be claimed from the officer who holds them without a paid recovery company. When claims compete, the officer may ask a court to decide who is paid.

Court filings are searchable through the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk.

More detail: how surplus funds claims work.

Path 3: Sell the house, including an inherited one

Some owners and heirs in Marietta, Smyrna or Kennesaw who do not plan to keep a house sell it before a tax sale, on the open market or to an investor. In a sale, the delinquent taxes are normally paid from the proceeds at closing.

When an owner has died, selling the house generally requires someone with legal authority to sign, which can involve probate. Every Georgia county has its own probate court, and an estate is generally handled in the county where the person lived, or, for someone who lived outside Georgia, the county where the property is. (O.C.G.A. §§ 53-5-1, 53-2-40)

Common warning signs in an investor's offer

• A request for an upfront fee.
• A request to sign a deed or a power of attorney outside a closing conducted by a Georgia attorney.
• An offer to "handle the taxes" in exchange for signing over the house.
• An offer that is not in writing.
• An investor’s offer to buy the house is a different matter from any excess funds held after a tax sale, but an investor’s documents can include a transfer of the right to those funds. What is transferred depends on what the signed documents say and on how Georgia law treats them.