In Mississippi, when you don’t pay your property taxes on time, your property taxes owed may have to go through a tax sale. This is a public auction, meaning your house and land could get sold. But the new owner won’t be able to live or inhabit your property right away – you’ll have a two years to get your past due amounts caught up.
The two years you have to get your property taxes caught up is called the “redemption” period which is usually 180 days from the sale. If you don’t pay your property taxes off in Mississippi before the deadline, you could possible lose your property.
Under Mississippi law, most people have a two-year redemption period after the sale. During this time, you can pay off the tax debt and prevent the purchaser from getting title to your home. (Miss. Code Ann. § 27-45-3, § 21-33-61). If you’re not able to repay the property taxes, penalties and interest in time, you could lose your property and the person who purchased the property taxes could obtain legal title to your property.
How can I Redeem my Property after a Tax Sale?
The owner of the property has a statutory redemption period of 2 years from the date of sale. If the property owner does not pay the taxes within 2 years from the purchase date, the priority lien holder can acquire the property. The Chancery Clerks Office typically handles the process of acquiring the property. (Miss. Code Ann. § 27-45-3).
Below are the costs of redeeming your property:
- the amount of taxes due plus 5%
- sale costs
- interest on the taxes and costs at the rate of 1.5% per month (or any fraction thereof) from the sale date, and
- all costs that have accrued on the property since the sale, plus interest from the date the costs accrued at the rate of 1.5% per month or any fraction thereof. (Miss. Code Ann. § 27-45-3).
Please contact our office for more information regarding tax sales and redemption in Mississippi.
