If you’ve purchased a tax deed in Georgia, what do you need to do to obtain ownership of the property? That’s a question we get frequently. First and foremost, following a tax sale, you need to bar the right of redemption of the owner who didn’t pay taxes and any party who holds an interest in the property. This has been covered in other blogs on this website. But what about after you’ve barred the right to redeem, are you able to put up for sale sign and sell the property?
Generally, if there’s a non-judicial tax sale on the property within the past 20 years, the answer is no. In other words, most title insurance companies won’t title insure such properties. So what to do. There are generally three ways to obtain full title or what is known as “marketable title.”
The first way is to adversely possess the property for more than four years. This means taking full possession of the property in a manner that is (i) hostile (against the right of the true owner and without permission); (ii) actual (exercising control over the property); (iii) exclusive; (iv) open and notorious (using the property as the real owner would, without hiding occupancy); and (v) continuous.
The second way is to get a quitclaim deed from the of the owner who didn’t pay taxes and any party who holds an interest in the property.
The third way is to file a quiet title action in the Superior Court in which the property is located. In such a lawsuit the owner who didn’t pay taxes and any party who holds an interest in the property are named and given an opportunity to object.
Please call with any questions regarding tax deeds or any of the above methods of obtaining marketable title once a barment notices have been completed.