Selling Land with Back Taxes or Liens

Land with Back Taxes: What Landowners Need to Know

Delinquent property taxes are one of the most common complications we see on land in Indiana and Kentucky. Whether taxes have been unpaid for one year or ten, you have options — and selling directly is often the fastest way out.

How Tax Delinquency Works in Indiana

Indiana property taxes are paid in two installments: May 10 and November 10 approximately. If taxes go unpaid, a tax lien is placed on the property. After a statutory period of delinquency, Indiana counties may offer the delinquent parcel in a tax sale. Buying from a tax sale buyer typically cuts out the original owner entirely. For a detailed walkthrough of how the Indiana tax sale timeline works, see: Indiana Property Tax Sales: What Happens and How to Sell Before You Lose the Land.

If your land is approaching tax sale status, time matters. We can often move quickly enough to let you close before a tax sale date — but this depends on how far along the process is.

How Tax Delinquency Works in Kentucky

Kentucky uses a Certificate of Delinquency system that differs from Indiana’s annual auction model. Third-party purchasers can acquire rights to your delinquent taxes year-round, creating a timeline that moves faster than most landowners expect. For a full walkthrough of how the Kentucky delinquency process works, see: Kentucky Property Tax Delinquency: What Happens to Your Land and How to Sell Before It Gets Worse.

Liens Beyond Property Taxes

Liens on land come in several forms besides delinquent taxes:

• Mechanic's liens from unpaid contractors
• Judgment liens from court judgments
• IRS federal tax liens
• Old mortgage liens that were never formally released

A title search identifies known liens. Many of these can be resolved at closing — paid from proceeds. We factor known encumbrances into our offer rather than treating them as deal-killers.

What We Can and Can't Do

We can often factor delinquent taxes and many types of liens into a direct purchase — paying them from the proceeds at closing. What we can't promise is paying any arbitrary amount in delinquent taxes if it eliminates the economic basis for a transaction. We'll be straight with you about what the numbers look like.

Delinquent taxes feel like a wall between you and selling. They are not. We work with this regularly. Taxes get paid from proceeds at closing and it does not complicate the deal as much as you would think. The longer you wait, the more they compound.