quency can be viewed as an "early warning
system to municipalities
that there are market problems with particular properties".
The tax lien foreclosure process allows cities to return tax delin-
quent vacant land and abandoned structures to productive use. Their
ability to do so is greatly influenced at the state level by the particular
property tax collection enforcement system that has been legally au-
thorized. These systems vary from state to state because, historically,
states retain great autonomy to determine
their individual methods of
property tax collection and enforcement.
State laws set the parameters for how local governments deal with
their tax delinquent properties, either helping or hindering the process.
Massachusetts, for example, has no specific deadlines for notifying
owners or responding to foreclosure, and
the foreclosure process can
take years. Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, and Texas, by con-
trast, have all adopted legislative reforms in recent years that improve
сities' ability to expedite foreclosure on
properties and convert them
back into productive use. Michigan's legislation shortens the foreclo-
sure process from what could take five years to one-half years, and
create insurable property titles through judicial action.
States can also be divided into three categories according to
whether they (1) allow lien enforcement and property sale without a
judicial process; (2) require judicial involvement at the sale or termi-
nation
of the redemption period; or (3) permit enforcement of property
tax liens through a judicial or non-judicial process.
A judicial tax enforcement proceeding - a proceeding that relies on
the court system - is superior for several reasons. Such a proceeding
provides a permanent public record and provides an opportunity for a
hearing, an opportunity currently unavailable under most tax lien en-
forcement system.
In other words, the process produces a marketable
property title that a title insurance company would be willing to in-
sure. In this way, the proceeding resolves one of the major problems
to transferring and financing properties that cities seek to redevelop.
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