Published: July 01, 2009 09:14 am      

Deadline is approaching for delinquent taxes

Third parties can purchase bills Aug. 11

CATLETTSBURG — Delinquent county property taxpayers have a little more than a month to pay their bills before they can be sold to a third party.

Boyd County Clerk Debbie Jones said although more than 900 delinquent tax bills have been paid since they were turned over to the clerk’s office in April, more than 1,400 delinquent tax bills remain in Boyd County.

Jones said residents have until Aug. 10 to pay their bills in full or make a partial payment to prevent them from being sold to a third party. Taxpayers can check to see if their bill is delinquent online at www.bcdelinquenttaxes.com.

All delinquent bills will also be advertised in the local newspaper 30 days prior to their sale to alert the public of their pending sale, Jones said.

“Everyone who has a delinquent tax bill will be printed in the paper,” she said, adding the half page ad will run in The Independent on Aug. 11.

All bills that remain delinquent after that date will be eligible to be sold to third parties on Aug. 11. Jones said some third party purchasers have already sent her a list of bills they want to purchase along with a check to purchase them.

The largest purchaser of delinquent bills in Boyd County is Texas-based Tax Ease Lien Investments LLC. The company purchased more than $1 million in delinquent Boyd County bills last year, Jones said.

Third parties often attach large fees and interest rates to the bills but new state legislation now in effect limits those fees and sets interest rates. The legislation also requires extensive notification to property owners by third parties and requires them to register with the state Department of Revenue and be in good standing with the Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection.

Delinquent taxpayers, however, can still lose their property to third parties. Last year, Tax Ease and others began foreclosing on a large number of Boyd properties whose delinquent tax bills had been purchased by the company in previous years.

According to the new legislation, if a third party has purchased previous delinquent bills they have first rights to purchase subsequent unpaid bills, Jones said.

Despite the seemingly large number of delinquent bills that remain, Jones said she has been impressed by the number of individuals who have come in to pay compared to last year.

“I wanted to compliment the Boyd County residents for being so vigilant with the delinquent tax process this year,” she said, adding the 931 bills paid so far added up to a total of $575,000 in revenue.

CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.