Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Can we let our land go for nonpayment of taxes with no other penalties?
My husband and I own land which we cannot sell. No Realtor in our area will list it. We have had no replies to our Web site or to our newspaper advertisements, in which we offered it for a fraction of what we paid 5 years ago. Land is not selling in our area and has not been selling for some time. We do not wish to pay any more property taxes. If we give it away to a relative or a charity as a gift, then they will be responsible for taxes. We see no way out except to simply not pay our property taxes this year and let the County take it and sell it for taxes. Will there be any other penalties we are not aware of? Will this hurt our credit, which is perfect?
Thank you for your help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Can we let our land go for nonpayment of taxes with no other penalties?
If the land cannot be sold, perhaps the County Assessor will
reduce the appraisal (assessment) and thus lower your taxes.
If the land can be put to a charitable use, then a charity would
not have to pay taxes. You might have a small deduction (for the value or
basis of the land) for the gift. You might investigate this further.
It takes five or more years to lose the property through non-payment of
real property taxes. Some penalties and interest are imposed. If you wish, you
could fail to pay taxes for a few years and see if the property gains value. You
would get notice well before there is a tax sale.
I have not seen failure to pay real estate taxes on credit reports as yet, but
I cannot say whether this will happen in the future. Since this is a tax with its
own enforcement, I don't think the commercial entities will care. However, it will be
public record.
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