A Colorado-based investment group bought an interest in 48 Howard County properties at an Internet tax sale earlier this month, raising eyebrows among local investors.
The Howard County Auditor’s Office received just over $29,000 from Hai Minh Ventures LLC for tax certificates on the properties, officials said Wednesday.
The certificates entitle Hai Minh and other investors purchasing certificates to either a guaranteed profit or first shot at acquiring title to a property.
The county, in return, collected more than $50,000 in unpaid property taxes at the Internet auction, which ran from April 5 to 13.
…
Most investors purchasing tax certificates (also called tax liens) do so hoping the property owner will pay off the back taxes, said Josh Boeke, a representative of SRI Inc., Indianapolis, the realty firm the county used for the recent tax sales.
If that happens, the tax certificate holder gets their money back, plus 10 percent interest. That’s how most tax lien investors make their money.
If the current property owner doesn’t redeem the property by paying off the past-due taxes, the tax certificate holder can either try to gain title to the property or simply eat their investment, Howard County Treasurer Martha Lake said.
…
Mallabar said the county initially put 435 properties up for a live auction tax sale on April 3. Of those, 178 were sold at the live auction, netting the county about $269,000.
The remaining 257 properties went to the Internet auction, which was open to investors across the nation. Another 102 properties sold at the Internet sale, netting just over $50,000.
County officials called both sales a “cleanup sale” — basically an attempt to get some money back on the properties that had been delinquent the longest. Many of the properties are vacant lots, or have numerous city sewage and weed liens against them, Mallabar said.
…
http://kokomotribune.com/local/x130096453/Investor-snaps-up-tax-certificates
