Someone asked me the other day, “Does Saint Louis County property auction happens in August or is it a tax sale?”
I was a little befuddled about the question because I never knew a whole lot about it.
But for some reason I did remember something about it being in the month of August.
A public auction is “held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority.”
And a tax sale is the forced sale of property (usually real estate) by a governmental entity for unpaid taxes by the property’s owner.
In all actuality, Saint Louis County property auction is a tax sale under the tax lien model where a lien is being sold on the property.
When Is Saint Louis County Property Auction Tax Sale?
The tax sale for St. Louis County is held annually on the first Monday of the final week of August.
Its the terminology that can be confusing but it’s basically an “auction tax sale” of unpaid taxes, interest and fees.
Once the property owner pays their taxes, payment of the entire investment plus interest of 18% (or more) will be due to the purchaser of the tax lien.
Other markets have weekly auctions that are tax deed sales instead where the entire property is for sale.
Saint Louis County does three offering sales which consists of properties that have unpaid taxes for the last three years.
In essence the property can be acquired after the third offering stage if the property taxes are still unpaid for another year.
The process of acquiring real property can be attained after the tax lien owner goes unpaid for his investment.
I would highly recommend speaking to a representative at the Saint Louis County Collector of Revenue office and or a local real estate attorney for any further information.
