AZ Property Tax Lien ALERTS
By Mark L. Manoil, Phoenix
All Arizona counties’ delinquent tax
lists are required to be published, prior to next February’s auctions, on the
Internet as well as in traditional local newspapers. The lists are to be
published in one Internet location, which should make pre-auction research and
planning easier for lien investors.
As
we reported in our legislative
wrap-up earlier this year, the amendment to the delinquent tax list
publication requirement now requires County treasurers to publish the tax lien
list with a newspaper which, in turn, is required to see that the list is
published on the Internet. In the last couple years some county treasurers
published their delinquent tax lists on their own websites.
This session law, Chapter
151 of the first regular session, amended Arizona
Revised Statutes Section 42-18109. We were curious about the background of
this bill and recently inquired about it with several newspaper publishers that
we know. Apparently, there has been increasing pressure by various county
officials to reduce the expense to the counties of the publication requirement,
which, until the adoption of this law, had mandated that the list be published
in a local newspaper two times prior to the annual auction. Just as the publication expense was a significant one for the
counties, the anticipated revenue was important to the local newspapers carrying
the list.
According to representatives of the Arizona
Newspapers Association, the trade association of Arizona newspaper
publishers, Chapter 151 was the result of a compromise through which they sought
to preserve at least part of the advertising revenue from the tax lien list.
Now, after each of the newspapers has published the tax lien list once
for the county planning the auction, the newspaper will be required to also
publish the list on the Internet, “on a website that posts the legal notices
of ten or more Arizona newspapers,” according to the amended law.
The Arizona Newspapers Association website is most likely where the
publications will appear.
We anticipate that the website will be
promoted at the time the tax lien lists are published.
In the meantime, however, you may wish to bookmark the following link and
check to see when the lists are made available: <http://www.publicnoticeads.com/AZ/>.
Some counties have successfully made available their treasurer's, assessor's and recorder's information and records on the web. It is becoming ever more possible to conduct at least preliminary research about possible lien purchases from one's desk. We suspect that the inevitable pressure to lower the cost of government will lead to more exploitation of the Internet, perhaps soon allowing us to attend auctions or buy tax liens on-line.
More information about public notice
advertising is available on the Arizona newspapers Association website at <www.ananews.com>.
Our links page includes
treasurer’s websites to the extent we know of them.
Mark L. Manoil
Carson Messinger Elliott Laughlin & Ragan, PLLC
3300 North Central Avenue, 19th Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85012
602-264-2261
Arizona Property Tax Lien Primer: http://members.cox.net/manoil
The information presented in this communication is not intended as legal advice, nor does this communication establish an attorney-client relationship. The opinions expressed are those solely of Mark Manoil, unless otherwise noted. I specifically disclaim any liability for any reader's detrimental reliance on the information and views presented herein. If you need professional advice, please contact a competent professional.
© 2001
Mark L. Manoil