Sell a Tax-Delinquent House in Washington

Property-tax statements go out on the county’s calendar. After the due date, the unpaid amount is delinquent and interest applies. The rate, and any penalty, are on the bill and in the statute for that type of property. KindKey will not compute them from a neighbor’s statement. Call the treasurer with the parcel number and ask for the amount due. A house in Kent or Federal Way is a King County account. A house in Tacoma, Puyallup, or Edgewood is a Pierce County account. Auburn and Milton can fall in either county, so the letterhead matters more than the city name.

Many owners are one installment behind and still years away from a treasurer’s sale. That is a cash-flow problem. It is not yet a foreclosure. Paying the county, asking the treasurer about a program you might qualify for, or selling the house are different choices. Counties publish deferral and exemption programs for some seniors and people with disabilities. KindKey does not decide eligibility. The Edgewood guide lists the Pierce County counter for owners in that city. If your bill is from King County, call the King County Treasurer named on the statement.

RCW 84.64.050 says that after three years from the date of delinquency, when property remains on the tax rolls and no certificate of delinquency has been issued, the county treasurer must issue certificates of delinquency for the taxes, interest, and costs. The statute also lets the treasurer, with the consent of the county legislative authority, issue a certificate for fewer than all years, down to the earliest year. King County’s treasury page describes the start in practical terms: the foreclosure process on real property is initiated when any one tax, assessment, fee, or lien becomes a full three years delinquent. Pierce County’s foreclosure page describes the properties it proceeds on as those with tax of more than $100 cumulative that is three or more years delinquent.

The treasurer files the certificate of delinquency in superior court. In King County that court is King County Superior Court. In Pierce County it is Pierce County Superior Court. The case is not a mortgage foreclosure under chapter 61.24 RCW, and it is not a city code letter. Read the caption on the paper. To come off a King County tax foreclosure, the county says the owner must pay all taxes, fees, interest, penalties, and foreclosure costs. Pierce County publishes a redemption deadline before its sale. Both counties describe limited exceptions after a sale, including for a minor or a person judged incompetent. Confirm the current date with the treasurer. A published auction date can be updated. KindKey cannot move it.

You do not have to bring the taxes current before you ask for an offer, and you do not have to repair the house first. If you accept, the closing agent orders title. Delinquent property taxes are a lien. Amounts that have to be paid to deliver the title the contract requires are commonly paid from the purchase price at closing, the same way a mortgage payoff is paid. Interest and costs the treasurer requires through closing are part of that figure. You see them on the settlement statement before you sign the deed.

If the price does not cover the taxes and the other liens, the sale may not close unless those lienholders agree to different numbers. KindKey will not negotiate with the treasurer, or with a lender, as your representative. A relative who pays the bill does not become the buyer unless a deed says so. KindKey does not charge an agent commission or a separate assignment fee. Cash means the purchase is not waiting on a retail buyer’s mortgage approval. It does not erase the tax.

Tell KindKey the date on the notice, if you have one, and which county issued the bill. KindKey can aim for a closing date a title company can meet before that date. That is a plan. It is not a promise that the foreclosure will stop. Requesting an offer does not pause the treasurer, and a signed purchase agreement does not, by itself, remove a parcel from a certificate of delinquency. The county’s account changes when the county receives the payment it requires, including a payment made through closing. If the file cannot finish in time, you should hear that early. Do not skip a redemption deadline because a buyer is looking at the house.

A mortgage foreclosure can be running at the same time. That notice has its own clock. Read the statewide guide on selling before foreclosure, and talk with a Washington attorney about RCW 61.34 before you sign under that kind of pressure. KindKey does not interpret that statute. A city code case can be open too. The Washington code-violations guide covers fines and inspectors, which are not the treasurer’s sale. If the delinquent account came with a parent’s house, authority to sign is a separate question, covered in the estate guide on repairs, mortgages, taxes, and liens. You can say no after you see the offer.