How to Find Government Tax Liens on Property

Government liens are placed on a property whenever a taxpayer fails to pay his tax bill in a timely manner or is audited and has to subsequently pay an additional tax bill. These liens may be placed for a variety of tax offenses such as failure to pay a property tax, refusal to remit sales taxes, not properly submitting the withholding tax from an employee's paycheck or avoiding income taxes.

Instructions

1. Determine what type of government lien you will be searching for. For instance, if you are looking to purchase tax delinquent properties then you should look for liens placed against properties for failure to pay property taxes. Some states will allow you to buy these liens and lay claim to a property or realize a return-on-investment (ROI) should the taxpayer pay the overdue taxes. Government liens placed against a property because the property owner failed to pay an income tax will be of little use to you since that lien can probably not be used to force the sale of the property.

2. Visit your county courthouse. The majority of government liens must be filed in the office of the county clerk. The county clerk keeps the records related to property ownership. In order to show a lien against the property, the government entity who is placing the lien must file a copy of the lien with the county clerk. The county clerk should be able to direct you in how to review the status of these liens.

3. Monitor the annual publication of data by the county clerk's office. Before a county clerk can sell liens they will likely be required to post this information in the legal section of a publication of general circulation within your county. This will provide you with the opportunity to review the liens which are available to purchase without having to pay a fee for the information. If you do not have access to this publication then you should ask the county clerk to provide you with the list.

Tips & Warnings

• The process for purchasing the property of delinquent property taxpayers varies from state to state. Don't be afraid to ask your county clerk for a detailed description of the appropriate procedures for this process in your particular jurisdiction.

References

• "Internal Revenue Service"; File a Notice of Federal Tax Lien;
• "Montgomery County Maryland"; Tax Information and Procedures;
• "Simpson County Clerk"; Example of Number of Liens Filed at County Clerk's Office;