Texas company snatches up over $130,000 in tax bills

A Dallas, Texas based company has bought $130,344 in delinquent property tax bills from the Whitley County Clerk’s Office.
Clerk Kay Schwartz said Tuesday afternoon that she received a check from Tax Ease Lien Investments to purchase about 200 delinquent property tax bills from 2005.
The purchase paid off about one-third of the delinquent property tax money owed on 2005 property tax bills, according to figures from Schwartz’s office.
Tax Ease or any company purchasing the tax bills can collect 12 percent interest from the property owner plus “a reasonable attorney fee.”
Schwartz said that based upon her conversations with other clerks across the state, the “reasonable” attorney fees have at times been somewhat “ridiculous” in other areas.
“The state does not have a limit on that fee. It just goes regionally,” she said. “I talked to a couple of clerks that have had several tax bills purchased, and they said that the attorney fees have just been outrageous.”
With the purchase of the tax bill, the company has to record a lien on the property.
“They also have to give us a document that records a lien in the record of encumbrance book in the deed room that is an additional $13 per tax bill,” Schwartz said.
“They have to hold that for one year. When the year is up, they can file an order in the court system and call that property to sale on the courthouse square.”
Schwartz said the company had called last month about the matter, but hadn’t gotten all of their paperwork done in time to purchase the bills last month.
One day a year, the sheriff’s department sells delinquent tax bills before they are turned over to the county clerk’s office, but Schwartz said this would be the first time she has had someone come in, and purchase another individual’s tax bill in her office.
Schwartz said about $2.9 million in back property taxes including interest is owed in Whitley County on tax bills from 1999 through 2005. The sheriff’s department is currently collecting the 2006 property tax bills.
According to the county clerk’s office, delinquent property taxes owed since 1999, include:
• 1999: 1,512 tax bills – original amount owed $153,589.75, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $364.105.46.
• 2000: 1,583 tax bills – original amount owed $166,931.34, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $371,300.64.
• 2001: 1,632 tax bills – original amount owed $170,003.17, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $348,842.22.
• 2002: 1,980 tax bills – original amount owed $221,169.55, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $419,751.70.
• 2003: 2,266 tax bills – original amount owed $281,897.48, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $489,543.16.
• 2004: 2,202 tax bills – original amount owed $277,750.19, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $443,826.31.
• 2005: 2,692 tax bills – original amount owed $393,478.61, with penalties through Jan. 31, 2007, $558,391.97.