So you just r
ealized that you didn’t make your property tax payment this year? Well, in Oklahoma, you have the ability to pay back taxes for quite a while before it becomes critical.
However, once you’re three years delinquent, it gets really serious. If you’ve missed 3 years taxes, the county has the right to sell your house at auction the following June to recover the property taxes that are unpaid. If the owner of the property is 65 or older; or has been classified as totally disabled and is residing at the property; has a gross annual income lower than the Federal Poverty Guidelines and; the fair market value of the property as reflected by the County Assessor does not exceed $125,000, the owner may qualify for an exemption from tax sale. If this is the case, you should immediately contact the county treasurer and see if they can help you.
Don’t lose all the equity in your home to the government! If you don’t qualify for an exemption and you have equity in your home, having the county sell your house is really a “worst-case” scenario. Unfortunately, once you’ve missed 3 years of property tax payments, you eventually reach the point where the county doesn’t allow you to just pay back one or two years. At that time, they insist on the entire amount, plus penalties and interest.
To prevent having your house go to auction, you need to pay the taxes. If you have the money already, that’s great, so don’t waste any time! Go ahead and get it paid ASAP. If you don’t have the money, you can possibly borrow it from someone to pay them, and avoid having your property sold. If neither of those is an option, you should consider selling your house. That way, you have something to show for the equity in your property and you don’t risk losing all the value of your house.
We buy properties quickly, so if you’re needing to sell quickly before a deadline, that’s not a problem for us. We’ve closed on property as late as the day before the sale! We know it can be an unpleasant thing, having to sell your property, but we try to make it as easy and painless as possible. We want a “win-win” situation for everyone involved in a sale!
If you’re facing the tax sale, call us as soon as you can, so we can make you an offer and you’ll know all your options.