In what state... there is a period in most states the original owner can come back, pay the taxes and reclaim the property even AFTER you buy it (Certainly in Pennsylvania were we have bought a property at a tax sale in the past that was the case). But laws vary by state. Someone can give you more specific info if you can provide it to us.

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Originally Posted by smoothy

In what state......

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In another thread she says Alabama.

It's not clear whether she bought it at a tax sale or is simply squatting.

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Originally Posted by AK lawyer

In another thread she says Alabama.

It's not clear whether she bought it at a tax sale or is simply squatting.

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I know in our case we had to get the original owner to sign off 15+ years after the tax sale before we could get clear title to resale our property (a house and land) in Pennsylvania. THey actually still had the right to pay the original tax debt an interest.. and all the taxes paid (and Interest) up to that date AFTER the tax sale we bought it at... a real PITA, but only if we went to resell the property.. they had no claim as long as we kept it. Luckily in this case the property wasn't valuable enough for them to try to reclaim. That was a one hell of a learning experience in itself.

But you are right... we need more information from them. Different situations... different set of laws.

It appears that the adverse possession statute in Alabama is 10 years. Some states have law that suggests paying the taxes can perfect an adverse possession claim. It would take further research to determine how that can work in Alabama.

For property taxes, you have to have purchased the property at the county tax sale. Then ( last property I bought in Alabama had a three year redemption period after the sale) to get the deed. But that is subject to change each year and may have changed since the last property I bought there for taxes

Next if you are just living there, does the ower actually know you are there ? I would say in Alabama, at least from my buy and sale of property there, paying their taxes merely keeps it from being sold by others. But is not even repayable if and when they evict you