In Georgia in 2002, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that tax lien companies were charging homeowners tens of thousands of dollars in penalties to reclaim their properties. The Birmingham News described a similar trend in Alabama three years later.
Tax lien sales shock, dismay
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/tax-lien-sales-shock-dismay/nQpB5/
Updated: 8:58 a.m. Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 | Posted: 12:52 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010
By M.B. Pell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Robin Gordon didn’t know about the tax lien Fulton County placed against her apartment until the county sold the lien to a private company, foreclosed and sold the property at a sheriff’s auction.
Now, to keep her property, she must pay $8,200 to satisfy the $291 she initially owed in delinquent taxes and penalties. “It’s just seems too ludicrous to be true,” Gordon said.
That’s a profit of 2,700 percent for Vesta Holdings and KOR Holdings, the sister companies that purchased Gordon’s lien, ordered the sheriff’s office to auction her apartment and then bought her property at the auction.
While most Georgia counties prohibit this practice, Fulton and Gwinnett counties routinely sell tax liens to private third parties who can pump up the lien value and use foreclosure to collect the debt.
State may target tax lien sales
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-may-target-tax-lien-sales/nWgFf/
Posted: 6:27 a.m. Monday, March 4, 2013
Fulton tax commissioner says they help schools, local governments
By Johnny Edwards and M.B. Pell
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation has spurred some state lawmakers to try to reel in Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand, outraged that his quick sale of tax liens may have deprived the county of up to $20 million.
Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann says the AJC’s findings also warrant an official investigation.
The AJC reported Sunday that Ferdinand sold thousands of property tax liens before the county would have been eligible for a 10 percent penalty. That resulted in the county handing over as much as $20 million in potential profits to a private company that is the biggest lien buyer – with a corresponding $20 million potential loss to the county.
Tax lien issues plague Fulton
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/tax-lien-issues-plague-fulton/nQP9j/
Updated: 8:42 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 | Posted: 4:56 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
By M.B. Pell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Nelson fought Fulton County and the private tax lien industry for years to keep his house in Inman Park. He lost the battle and nearly lost much more.
....
Nelson’s money was in a county fund that now totals $11.9 million, all from the excess proceeds from foreclosure sales. Most belongs to former property owners like Nelson.
It’s a perfect pot of money to attract con artists, experts say: there’s lots of it — Fulton collected $47.8 million over the last 10 years; oversight is easily dodged; and property owners who are due the money frequently don’t know it belongs to them.
Fulton has a troubled history with the fund. Seven years ago, it was at the center of a scandal that reached into the highest levels of county government and deposed a Fulton sheriff.
And on and on and on and....
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