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Real property and mobile home delinquent taxes are enforced through the annual tax lien
sale.
Other Tax Lien Sale Information:
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El Paso County Treasurer's Tax Lien Sale Procedures:
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The sale of El Paso County's unpaid taxes and special
assessment liens will be held on October 25,
2006. The sale will be conducted at 8:00 a.m.
at the following location:
El Paso County Office Building,
27 East Vermijo Ave., 3rd Floor,
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
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All bids must be covered by cash or certified checks. Electronic Fund Transfers (wires) will be accepted if the money is received in our office two business days before the tax sale. Bidders' deposits
are made in the Office of the County Treasurer,
27 East Vermijo Avenue, First Floor, Colorado
Springs, Colorado. We will begin accepting deposits the week before tax sale. Deposits may also be made the day of the sale. The office will be open at 7:30 a.m. on tax sale day.
Deposits must be made in the name which will appear on the tax lien sale certificate and no
transfers of deposits or purchases from one account to another are permitted during the sale and for ten business days after the sale. Bidders with an insufficient (deposit) balance will not be able to continue bidding in the rotation category. In the open bidding categories, you will need to monitor your purchases to avoid overspending. Unused deposits
will be returned as quickly as possible after the close of the sale.
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Seating is limited and reserved for registered participants. Children attending the sale must stay with their parents or guardians at all times. Those who want to observe
may do so from the back of the room or outer corridor.
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Only one bidder card will be issued per buyer. Each buyer must be present and registered
to participate in the sale. Each buyer must pick up their own bidder card on tax sale day. The Treasurer reserves the right to limit buyer numbers issued to any individual or agent. Each buyer is required to complete an Internal Revenue
Service Form W-9 with name, address, and social security number or federal tax identification
number and a buyer registration form. After the forms have been completed and the buyer has
provided proof of deposit, he/she will be assigned a bidder number and given a bidder's card.
Buyers are responsible to assure that the information is correct. Tax lien sale certificates,
refund checks, redemption checks, and 1099 interest forms are prepared from this information.
Before leaving the sale all bidder cards must be returned to the Treasurers Office.
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It is the buyers' responsibility to know the quality of the property on which they are
paying the taxes and receiving a lien. Buyers must rely entirely on their own information,
judgment, and inspection of the property records. Particular attention should be given to the
impact of a bankruptcy filing which could place a cloud on the tax lien sale certificate. The
recommendation of the Treasurer is that you consult with private legal counsel prior to
participation in the tax lien sale. |
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Each parcel will be offered in compliance with Title 39, Article 11, of the Colorado Revised
Statutes. To facilitate the sale procedure, parcels which are contiguous or contained within
one subdivision may be combined and sold as a group.
The base (minimum) amount for each tax lien will be comprised of the unpaid ad val orem tax,
special assessment, late payment interest, advertising cost, and fees.
The tax liens will be separated into categories to facilitate the sale.
- Category One
- will contain the liens where the total amount of the lien is less than or equal to
$100.00. These liens will be offered for general (open) bidding and will be sold to the
buyer who pays the largest amount (bonus bid) in excess of the minimum amount.
- Category Two
- will contain the liens for a single property or multiple properties where the total
amount of the lien is greater than $100.00 and less than or equal to $2,000.00. These tax
liens will be offered for rotation bidding. Rotation bidding will be in buyer number
order. Each buyer has the right of refusal and the lien will be offered to the next buyer
until sold. The next lien will be offered to the buyer whose number follows the purchaser
of the previous lien. If no buyer elects to purchase a lien offered in rotation, the
lien will be offered for general (open) bidding at the end of the sale.
- Category Three
- will contain the liens for a single property or multiple properties where the total lien
is greater than $2,000.00. These tax liens will be offered for general (open) bidding and
will be sold to the buyer who pays the largest amount (bonus bid) in excess of the minimum
amount.
- Category Four
- will contain the liens for properties with alert information. The alert information
is a good faith effort to share known information with prospective tax lien sale buyers.
It is not all inclusive. The Treasurer and the County are unable to warrant the alert
information or lack of alert information. The tax lien sale buyer participates at his
or her own risk. These liens will be offered for general (open) bidding.
The sale process is subject to change depending on the number of tax liens available.
The sequence index number and the base (minimal) amount of each parcel or unit will be read
only once. All successful bids are final (assuming the buyer has sufficient monies on deposit).
No changes in, or cancellation of, parcels purchased can be made after the lien is sold.
The sale will be conducted as rapidly as possible, consistent with the objectives of the sale
and in fairness to all buyers. We will have a lunch break at approximately 12:00 noon or
may choose to continue until the sale is completed.
If a continuance of the tax lien sale is necessary, the sale will be reconvened on the
succeeding business day. Any announcement of adjournment or reconvening will be made at the
sale.
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Rules for
General
(Open) Bidding
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Tax liens will be sold to the person who shall pay in addition to the lien amount a bonus
(premium) bid. Bonus (premium) bids are not returned or recovered when a tax lien is redeemed
(cured).
Any issues must be resolved with tax sale staff during the breaks. |
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In accordance with Colorado Revised Statutes
39-11-115 (2) (C) and (D), minimum bids and bid
increase increments are as follows:
Categories 1 and 4 will not be less than $1.00
and after reaching $5.00 will be increased by
increments of $5.00 to $20.00. After reaching
a bonus bid of $20.00, the amount will be increased
by increments of $20.00.
Category 2 will be sold by rotation order. Rotation will be in buyer sequence.
Category 3 will start at $20.00 and increase
in increments of $20.00.
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A tax lien sale certificate of purchase will be issued for each property and will be in the
statutory form stating the property description, purchase amount, rate of interest, buyer's
name, and the date of sale. Certificates will not be issued in a name other than the name
of the buyer. Once issued and 10 days after the sale certificates may be assigned. The assignee must be registered as a tax sale buyer with our office. If delinquent taxes occur in the future, the certificate holder may endorse the
amount of delinquent taxes and lawful charges onto his/her certificate until redemption.
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Interest begins to accrue from the month the certificate is issued. The interest earned is
calculated based on the interest rate and the number of months up to and including the
month of redemption. There is no compounding. The interest rate for tax lien sale certificates
of purchase in 2006 will be determined in September 2006. (The rate of interest is nine percentage points above
the discount rate on September 1, 2006 rounded to the nearest full percent.)
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No El Paso County official or employee may purchase a tax lien at this sale. This also
applies to the immediate family or any agent of an El Paso County official or employee.
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It must be understood that the sale and purchase of the tax or special assessment lien at a
tax lien sale does not, as it might under simple sales and purchase agreements, convey the
right of possession, use, improvement, or access to the property. The buyer is issued a tax
lien sale certificate of purchase on which he/she is entitled to interest. The lien may be
redeemed by the property owner, recorded lien holder or by the agent of either party at any
time prior to the issuance of a Treasurer's tax deed. A Treasurer's tax deed cannot be issued
prior to the third anniversary of the tax lien.
The certificate holder has the right to pay subsequent year's taxes once they become officially delinquent (sub-taxing.) If a certificate holder chooses to sub-tax, the delinquent taxes will be added to their existing tax lien. Sub-tax packets will be mailed to all eligible certificate holders in early July.
If the lien remains unredeemed (not cured) and becomes eligible for a tax deed, the certificate
holder must make application to the Treasurer in order to initiate the process. The procedural
process requirements normally take nine to twelve months to accomplish. An extension of the
time period may occur when there are complex problems related to the property. Deed
applications may be made four calendar months prior to the third anniversary date of the
certificate. When application is made, monies must be deposited to pay all related deed
expenses. The deed application processing costs are recoverable if the property is redeemed;
however, no redemption interest is earned on the deed expense deposit. Prior to receiving a
Treasurer's tax deed, all subsequent taxes, special assessment liens, and current taxes must
be paid. El Paso County makes no guarantee for the condition or marketability of any property
which is acquired through a Treasurer's tax deed.
WRONGFULLY SOLD LIEN
- If a lien is wrongfully sold and the County must pay the certificate holder the redemption
interest, the rate will be calculated as set forth in Section 39-12-111, Colorado Revised
Statutes.
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The real estate list of unpaid taxes will be published for three consecutive weeks on September 27, October 4 and October 11, 2006. In the El Paso County News and Advertiser.
The list of unpaid taxes for the 2006 tax sale and parcel maps will be available beginning
October 2006 on our web site:
http://trs.elpasoco.com/TaxSale.asp.
The list will be updated periodically for accounts that are paid.
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If there are further questions, contact us at the following:
El Paso County Treasurer
P.O. Box 2007
Colorado Springs, CO 80901-2007
Telephone (719) 520-6666
E-mail:
trsweb@elpasoco.com
Web Site: http://trs.elpasoco.com
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