Title 40

Within 10 days after such sale the tax collector shall make report of each sale to the probate court and praying confirmation thereof. Such report shall lie over for a period of five days for exceptions or objections thereto. If upon the expiration of five days no objections have…

In all advertisements, any notices of the proceedings in the probate court for the sale of land for taxes and of such sales and all entries required to be made by the probate judge, tax collector or other officer, initial letters, abbreviations and figures may be used to indicate…

(a) Sales conducted pursuant to this article shall be made on the premises of or within the courthouse or courthouse annex of the county at public auction, to the highest bidder for cash between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., and shall continue from day to day until all t…

It shall be the duty of the tax collector, in making such sales, if practicable, to so offer such real estate for sale that only such portion thereof may be sold as is necessary to satisfy the decree under which it is sold and the expenses of the sale, but no sale shall be made f…

The person to whom any real estate at such sale is knocked off shall forthwith pay to the collector the amount of his bid, and on his failure to do so the collector must proceed at once to again offer it for sale. (Acts 1935, No. 194, p. 256; Code 1940, T. 51, §264.)

If no person shall bid for any real estate offered at such sale an amount sufficient to pay the sum specified in the decree of sale, and the costs and expenses subsequently accruing, the judge of probate shall bid in such real estate for the state at a price not exceeding the sum…

(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…

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…

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. (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 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…

Such cause shall be triable at the term named in said notice; and, unless the cause is contested at the trial term, the judge of probate shall forthwith issue his decree for the sale of lands, but if the cause is contested, the court with the written consent of the taxpayer and t…

The tax collector shall attend the several terms of the probate court at which any of the causes are triable and to have with him or her his or her tax book and his or her record of tax lien sales kept pursuant to Acts 1995, No. 95-408, and the tax book and record of tax lien sal…

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…

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 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 sale after demand there…

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…

Use the other codified version with the 2018 date in the history line. THIS SECTION WAS AMENDED BY ACT 2018-494 IN THE 2018 REGULAR SESSION, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2020. TO SEE THE AMENDED VERSION, SEE THE VERSION LABELED PENDING. If, in any action brought by the purchaser, or othe…

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 against such purchaser or other person claiming under the purchaser to recover poss…

(a) In any action under the provisions of either Section 40-10-76 or 40-10-77, the party claiming adversely to the tax title may, at any time, tender the amounts required in such sections to be ascertained by the court, with interest as therein prescribed; and no costs accruing a…

When an action is brought to recover possession of lands by either the state, its assignee or by purchaser other than the state, or his assignee as provided by Sections 40-10-73 and 40-10-74, the complainant shall recite the fact of the tax sale and purchase, and the certificate …

If, in any action brought to recover the possession of lands sold for taxes by or against the purchaser or other person claiming under him, it is shown that the party claiming adversely to the tax title, being entitled to redeem, made within the time allowed for redemption the pa…

Unless otherwise provided, on the trial of any issue involving the sale of real estate for taxes, or the redemption thereof, the books and records belonging to the office of the judge of probate, tax collector or tax assessor and required by law to be kept or certified copies the…

No action for the recovery of real estate sold for the payment of taxes shall lie unless the same is brought within three years from the date when the purchaser became entitled to demand a deed therefor; but if the owner of such real estate was, at the time of such sale, under th…

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, when the action is against the person for whom the taxes were assessed or the owner of the…