Hello all! We need to apologize for falling off a bit in the past few years, but we are excited to get back on the wagon and reboot the Georgia Property Tax Blog! In addition to the long needed reboot, we will be setting up accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Follow us on whatever platform you choose for information concerning all sorts of issues. We’ll try to mainly stick to relevant ones, but no promises. Brad & Josh ..read more

Bridges v. Collins-Hooten, et al.   Court of Appeals, November 1, 2016 2001 tax sale, followed by 2002 creditor redemption and a 2014 interpleader action re excess funds Creditor’s security deed had been satisfied in the interim, thus while it would have been entitled to the excess back in 2002, it was no longer entitled to it County tax director entitled to recover attorneys fees out of the excess, despite being a claimant Harvest Assets, LLC v. Northlake Manor Condo. Assoc. Court of Appeals; Feb. 16, 2017 Redemption premium dispute relating to a non-judicial tax deed and whether a ta ..read more

The Georgia Association of Tax Officials (GATO) has named Weissman, P.C. attorney Brad Hutchins as GATO’s first General Counsel. The General Counsel role was created to provide legal guidance on the impacts of legislation and court decisions, property tax matters and other legal issues important to GATO and its members.  This role also serves as a strategic legal adviser to the leadership team. “Brad is well-versed in tax practices,” notes GATO President Cindy Cannon. “His in-depth knowledge of tax practices on local and state levels provides GATO with an expertise to help strengthen our ..read more

The M7ven v. DLT List saga has in all likelihood ended. For me at least it ended in an unexpectedly dramatic fashion. This afternoon, standing at the podium for oral argument before the Fulton County Superior Court, I was explaining to the Court that certain aspects of the case were not ripe for ruling pending the results in this case. Moments later we find out from the judge’s staff attorney that the Supreme Court has at last ruled earlier today and everyone scrambled to figure out what the Court said and how it would impact the issues we were arguing. In short, the Supreme Court has agreed w ..read more

The Georgia Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the DLT List, LLC v. M7ven Supportive Housing & Development Group case on Monday, May 15, 2017.  With this ruling, we should finally have clarity on super liens, their creation and whether or not a super lien holder is entitled to claim the excess funds resulting from a tax sale.  I will update everyone as soon as the decision comes down ..read more

I am delighted to accept an invitation to this year's Meeting of the Minds talk at the Tift County Courthouse on February 8th. For those of you in central and south Georgia who are able to attend, I look forward to seeing you then. - Brad ..read more

Last week the Georgia Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of DLT List, LLC et al. v. M7VEN Supportive Housing & Development Group. The Justices showed a great deal of interest in the matter, but did not tip their hat as to how they may rule. If you are interested in viewing the arguments made by the attorneys in that case, you may find it at the second video listed HERE. We will update you once the Court issues its ruling ..read more

On November 7, 2016, the Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion in the matter of Nix v. 230 Kirkwood Homes, LLC. This is the third time Ms. Nix has made her way to the State's highest court on this matter - the prior occasions being against Community Renewal and Redemption, LLC in 2005 and 2011. In this instance, the Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Melton, made several rulings which will impact non-judicial tax sales for years to come. As a corollary, the court reversed a 2009 decision by the Court of Appeals in Davis v. Harpagon Co., LLC which had held that, as a jurisdictional issu ..read more

On October 31, 2016 the Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case of Reliance Equities v. Lanier 5, et al. In that case, a purchaser at a non-judicial tax sale waited the statutory year following the tax sale to conduct the foreclosure of the right of redemption (i.e., the barment). The tax deed holder sent the barment notice to the former owner as required by statute. The former owner did not redeem the tax deed prior to the deadline provided for in that notice. Later the tax deed holder ran the required notice of publication in the county newspaper. The former owner attempted to re ..read more

You may recall that previously Brad Hutchins and I prepared a video to let you know about the Court of Appeals decision in the DLT List, LLC v. M7ven Supportive Housing & Development Group case reversing the previously established rule that a creditor who redeems a non-judicial tax deed not only obtains a first priority lien against the property, but also has a perfected claim against all surplus funds generated by the tax sale. As a result of the Court of Appeals decision, the redeeming creditor still retains that first priority lien against the property, but no longer has a claim against ..read more