Does a "tax taking" mean that the City takes title to my property if I do not pay my real estate taxes?

The City has a number of different methods it can use in order to collect taxes.  The one it most frequently uses is the so-called "tax taking".  The tax taking is a procedure under which the City "takes" the property by recording at the Registry of Deeds a tax taking document.  That is the method of perfecting the lien against the property, which has priority over all other liens.  The property owner, however, has a right to "redeem"  the tax taking at anytime by paying the full amount of the taxes plus interest and other charges that the City is entitled to collect as the result of the failure to pay the taxes on a timely basis. 

If you do not pay the taxes for a period of two or three years the City may bring an action in the Land Court to "foreclose" the right of redemption.  What that means is that you will be served with a notice that the City intends to perfect its tax taking by obtaining a judgment from the Land Court which says that the owner failed to redeem the property and that the City now owns it as the absolute owner.  Even if the Land Court issues a judgment, you can generally, within a year following the date the judgment is issued, redeem the property from the City by, again, paying all of the money that is due and by filing a petition with the Land Court for that purpose.  The interest that runs on unpaid taxes is 14% calculated from the first due date of the quarterly payment and after the "tax taking" interest runs at the rate of 16% so it is certainly better to pay your taxes on time.

If you have questions about this or any other real estate matter, please contact Tom Bennett at (617) 531-6574 or tvb@barronstad.com.