Posted by Howard on October 24, 2003 at 14:52:51:
It can be a pain in the butt, but in Texas (and most states are probably similar) call the appraisal office for the county that the home is located. The repo company might have the info but I would double check. Ask the repo company to fax you a copy of the title. With the name and the registration numbers, the appraisal district can tell you their tax roll number. Then you have to call each of the entities that collect taxes. It could be County, City, School District, even Hospital or Water District but often one or two agencies collect all the taxes and apportion them. The appraisal district can tell you. If you can’t get the tax number from the appraisal district, you might try the school. They have been more helpful in looking up the tax roll info if you have the name and address. Then call the other entities using the same tax roll number.
Some repo companies will accept a bid, net of taxes (they will pay them or reimburse you). Check with the repo company before bidding.
It is definately something to be concerned about. We have occasionally found repo homes with more in taxes owed than the retail value of the home. I often wonder why the note holder never checked to see if the taxes were paid. Often they are unpaid for 5 years or more.