Title 40 — Title 40

At least 30 days prior to any tax lien auction, the tax collecting official shall prepare and maintain a list of all unsold tax liens. The list shall be known as the tax lien auction list and shall contain all of the following: (1) The names of the several persons appearing in th…

(a) On the day and time designated for a tax lien auction, the tax collecting official shall proceed to auction all tax liens described in the tax lien auction list compiled as provided in Section 40-10-183, except those for which the taxes, penalties, interest, fees, and costs h…

When a tax lien is offered for auction or sale, it shall not be necessary to list it as being against the property of any specific person. The auction or sale is not invalid by reason of the fact that the property was assessed in the name of a person other than the rightful owner…

(a) The purchase price for a tax lien shall be the amount as required in Section 40-10-184. (b) The purchase price for a tax lien shall be paid in a form acceptable to the tax collecting official not later than one hour before close of business on the date of the auction or sale …

(a) The tax collecting official, upon receipt of the purchase price, shall make, execute, and deliver a tax lien certificate to each purchaser. The tax lien certificate shall be in a form provided by the Department of Revenue and shall also include a certificate of redemption for…

The tax collecting official shall make a correct record of all auctions and sales of tax liens in a durable book or an electronic file, which shall be known as the record of tax lien auctions and sales, containing all of the following: (1) The date of auction or sale. (2) A descr…

The “holder of the tax lien certificate” means the original purchaser of a tax lien or any assignee thereof as described in the record of tax lien auctions and sales kept by the tax collecting official pursuant to Section 40-10-188. History: (Acts 1995, No. 95-408, p. 864, §11; A…

(a) As soon after the confirmation of sale is made as may be practicable, the tax collector must make out and deliver to each purchaser, other than the state, a certificate of purchase, which shall contain a description of the real estate sold and show that the sum was assessed b…

When a tax lien certificate is lost or destroyed, the holder of the tax lien certificate may file a notarized affidavit with the tax collecting official attesting to the loss of the certificate. Upon presentation of the notarized affidavit, the tax collecting official, on payment…

Abandonment of Certificate. (a) The holder of a tax lien certificate shall have the first right to purchase the tax lien relating to a subsequent delinquency on the property described in the tax lien certificate of the holder. A holder of the certificate shall exercise this right…

All monies collected or received by the tax collecting official as proceeds of a tax lien auction or sale shall be distributed in the same manner and proportions as the tax collecting official is required by law to distribute other monies collected by him or her in satisfaction o…

(a)(1) Tax liens auctioned or sold may be redeemed by any of the following: a. The owner, including a partial owner under Section 40-10-195, or his or her heirs or personal representatives. b. Any mortgagee or purchaser of the property or any portion of the property. c. Any perso…

(a) The tax collecting official, upon application to redeem a tax lien, and upon being satisfied that the person applying has the right to redeem the tax lien, and upon payment of the amount due, shall issue to the person a certificate of redemption appended to a copy of the cert…

A person owning an interest less than the whole in real property may redeem a tax lien pursuant to Section 40-10-193. History: (Acts 1995, No. 95-408, p. 864, §17; Act 2018-577, §1.)

Within 10 days of issuance of any certificate of redemption, the tax collecting official shall mail a copy of the certificate of redemption to the holder of the tax lien certificate related thereto at the address specified in the record of tax lien auctions and sales kept as prov…

Foreclosure; Deed; Demand for Auction; Expiration of Certificate. (a)(1) At any time not less than four years after the tax lien auction or the tax official’s sale of a tax lien but not more than 10 years after the auction or sale, if the tax lien has not been redeemed, a holder …

(a) Each holder of a tax lien certificate shall be entitled to the same rights and remedies with respect to the collection of the amounts due on the tax lien certificate as are available to the tax collecting official with respect to the collection of delinquent taxes, including,…

(a)(1) Tax liens that are not sold at the tax lien auction conducted by the tax collecting official shall be separated in the tax lien auction list as prescribed by Section 40-10-183, and the lien shall continue pursuant to Section 40-1-3. The tax collecting official, at any time…

The tax collector shall, at the expense of the county, procure a substantially bound book in which he or she shall enter, in the manner usual in docketing causes for trial in the circuit court, each parcel of real estate, or right or interest, or easement therein, assessed to any…

For the real estate bid off for the state in each case the judge of probate shall make out a certificate of purchase to the state of like import to the one provided for in Section 40-10-19 and deliver the same to the tax collector who shall, on final settlement, deliver all certi…

Delinquent Taxes. (a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), a tax assessing or tax collecting official, commissioner of revenue, judge or clerk of the court with jurisdiction over actions filed under this article, or any employee of any of those offices shall not knowingly ha…

A tax collecting official may conduct a tax lien auction and sale online or in person in accordance with procedures established by the tax collecting official. History: (Act 2022-208, §2.)

Unless otherwise provided, in the trial of any issue involving the auction, sale, or redemption of a tax lien certificate, an action for public auction, or a foreclosure and quiet title action filed under this article, the originals or certified copies of the books and records be…

The certificate of purchase delivered by the tax collector to the purchaser at such sale or to the state in case the state is the purchaser is assignable in writing or by endorsement, and if the state is the purchaser such assignment shall be made by the Land Commissioner upon th…

The cost of advertising the caption and conclusion of notices for the sale of real estate for the payment of taxes, and so much thereof as pertain to those portions of such real estate as are bid off for the state, must be paid by the state, and the Comptroller shall after every …

The cost of advertising the part of such notices pertaining to lands purchased by others than the state shall be covered by the bids of the purchaser and collected by the collector as part of the purchase money, but for the use of the owner or proprietor of the newspaper in which…

If the assessor, collector, judge of probate or any county tax assessor shall directly or indirectly be concerned or interested in the purchase of any real estate sold for taxes, the sale shall be void, and he and his sureties on his official bond shall be liable to a penalty of …

From any decree rendered by the probate court for the sale of real estate for the payment of taxes, the defendant in the cause or the state, in behalf of itself and the county, may appeal to the circuit court of the county within 30 days after the rendition of the decree. If the …

Any money collected on such judgment, except for costs of court, must be paid to the tax collector, who shall account for and pay the same over to the officers and persons entitled to receive the same. History: (Acts 1935, No. 194, p. 256; Code 1940, T. 51, §273.)

For each notice to a delinquent property owner to show cause why a decree of sale should not be rendered, the judge of probate is entitled to a fee of $5 and for each decree of sale, $5; the tax collector shall have $5 for serving each notice which may be given by certified or re…

(a)(1) The excess arising from the sale of any real estate remaining after paying the amount of the decree of sale, including costs and expenses subsequently accruing, shall be paid over to a person or entity who has redeemed the property as authorized in Section 40-10-120 or any…

After the expiration of three years from the date of the sale of any real estate for taxes, the judge of probate then in office must execute and deliver to the purchaser, other than the state, or person to whom the certificate of purchase has been assigned, upon the return of the…

Such book shall be prepared in a neat and orderly manner either in a fair and legible handwriting or typewritten, with sufficient space in each case to make the necessary entries, and in other particulars in a manner suitable for the purpose for which it is to be used; and, if it…

Such deed shall be signed by the judge of probate in his official capacity, and by him acknowledged before some officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds, and it shall be, in all the courts of the state, prima facie evidence of the regularity of all proceedings recited t…

Where real estate is erroneously sold for taxes and the state became the purchaser thereof, it shall be the duty of the tax collector of the county in which the real estate is situated to prepare and issue a certificate setting forth the following facts: (1) A correct description…

(a) On receiving such book, as speedily as practicable the judge of probate shall issue a notice addressed to each person against whom any unpaid taxes are assessed as shown by such book, substantially in the following form: “State of Alabama, (give name of county) county, to (gi…

When any assessment is made to an “owner unknown,” notice must be given by publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county, or if no newspaper is published therein, by posting the same at the courthouse of the county for three weeks, subs…

The Commissioner of Revenue shall be ex officio Land Commissioner. The Land Commissioner, subject to the provisions of the Merit System, shall appoint such agents or assistants as deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this title with respect to the duties of the Land Co…

The Land Commissioner shall have supervision and control of all real estate bought in by the state at tax sales, shall rent, lease or operate the same and make conveyances thereof when authorized by law and shall perform any and all duties with reference to such real estate as ma…

The Director of the Department of Revenue shall appoint subject to the provisions of the Merit System such agents as may be necessary to look after, protect against trespassers and rent any real estate bid in by the state at tax sales. Such agents under the direction of the Depar…

The Attorney General must furnish the Land Commissioner with suitable forms of certificates of purchase and deeds to purchasers at sales of real estate for taxes, from which the Land Commissioner shall cause to be printed a sufficient number of blank certificates and deeds and di…

It shall be the duty of the Land Commissioner to transmit to the tax assessor of each county by August 1 of each year a descriptive list of all the lands in the county reported to him as bid in for the state during the year and not redeemed, and it shall be the duty of said count…

The publication of notices under Sections 40-10-4 and 40-10-5 is governed by the provisions of this title relating to the publication of notices of sale of land, so far as they may be applicable, and the tax collector may select the newspaper or newspapers in which any notice und…

The tax collectors of the several counties of the state are authorized and required to accept any moneys tendered to them in partial payment of ad valorem taxes collectible by them at any time before the decree of sale of the properties liable therefor; provided, that said paymen…

When the sale of any land sold for the payment of taxes is, for any cause, ineffectual to pass the title to the purchaser, whether individual or the state, except in the case in which such sales are in this article expressly declared to be invalid, such sale shall operate as an a…

When lands are sold for taxes which are not liable therefor, the purchaser may recover from the officer by whose fault or neglect the assessment or sale was made, and the sureties on his official bond, the amount of the purchase money paid him therefor, with interest thereon from…

In case of the sale of any real estate, either for the collection of the taxes thereon or for the collection of other taxes due by the owner thereof, said real estate shall be described in all the proceedings incident to the condemnation and sale thereof, and in the certificate a…

When Lien Is Recorded. When the lands are bid in for the state at tax sales, the state shall be entitled to possession of said lands immediately upon execution of the certificate of sale by the judge of probate. If possession is not surrendered within six months from the date of …

Any purchaser of lands at a tax sale other than the state or anyone claiming under him shall be entitled to possession of said lands immediately upon receipt of certificate of sale from the tax collector; and, if possession is not surrendered within six months after demand theref…

In any action brought related to taxes delinquent on or after January 1, 2020, the interest rate on any amounts awarded pursuant to this section shall be eight percent. In any other action brought for the possession of land sold for taxes delinquent before January 1, 2020, the ti…