Sell Your House With Tax Liens for Cash

Closing timelines vary depending on the details of the property and your situation. In many cases we can move quickly once terms are agreed on — reach out and we can talk through what a realistic timeline looks like for your specific property.

No repairs are needed. We buy tax liens properties in any condition - as-is. You don't need to invest any money into the property before selling.

Zero fees. We pay all closing costs. The cash offer we make is the amount you walk away with at closing.

We evaluate the property's location, condition, and current market values. For tax liens properties, we also factor in any specific challenges and provide a fair offer that reflects the true value.

Simply fill out our form or call us. We'll gather some basic information about your property and situation, then provide a no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours.

We start with a short conversation about the property and your timeline, then explain next steps clearly. If it makes sense to move forward, we provide a no-obligation offer and walk you through the closing process.

Yes. Unpaid property taxes create a lien in favor of the city or town, but that lien does not stop a sale — it just has to be paid out of the proceeds when ownership transfers. Because we pay cash and clear liens through the closing, you do not need to bring money to pay the back taxes first: the amount owed is paid from the sale at closing, and whatever equity is left after the liens and other obligations comes to you.

A municipal lien certificate (MLC) is an official statement from the city or town collector listing every unpaid tax, assessment, water and sewer charge, and betterment against the property. In a Massachusetts sale the closing attorney orders the MLC, the outstanding amounts are paid at closing, and the certificate is recorded at the Registry of Deeds to discharge those municipal liens so the buyer takes clear title. Our title team handles ordering and clearing the MLC as part of the purchase.

You can usually still sell — but the window matters. When taxes stay unpaid, a Massachusetts municipality can make a tax taking and record a tax title, then eventually petition the Land Court to foreclose your right of redemption. Up until that foreclosure is complete you generally retain the right to redeem by paying what is owed, which a sale can do from the proceeds. If your property is already in tax title, tell us early so our closing attorney can get an accurate redemption figure from the treasurer and clear it at closing.

Not anymore — but you still lose real money by letting it get that far. Massachusetts changed its law in 2024, after the U.S. Supreme Court's Tyler v. Hennepin decision, so a municipality that forecloses a tax title and sells the property can no longer keep more than it is owed: the excess equity — what remains after the tax-title balance and the reasonable costs of the sale — must be returned to the former owner, generally within 60 days of the sale. That is genuine protection, but it is a poor substitute for selling on your own terms. Interest, legal fees, and charges keep accruing right up to the foreclosure judgment, the municipal sale process runs on the town's timeline rather than yours, and its costs come out of your equity. Selling before foreclosure — with the tax title redeemed from the proceeds at closing — keeps you in control of the price and the calendar, and it almost always preserves more of what the house is worth.

Faster than most owners realize, which is why the balance so often surprises people. Overdue property taxes accrue interest at 14% per year from the day they were due. Once the town makes a tax taking and moves the debt into a tax title account, the rate depends on timing: tax titles recorded before November 1, 2024 accrue at 16% per year, while a 2024 reform law cut the rate to 8% for tax titles recorded on or after that date. The catch is that an older tax title keeps its 16% rate — the new law does not reach back — so a balance that has been sitting for years is compounding at the old, higher rate, plus legal fees and costs once the town petitions the Land Court. Every month of waiting transfers more of your equity to interest. Selling stops the meter: the payoff is fixed as of the closing date and paid from the proceeds.

If you want to keep the home and can realistically make the payments, a payment plan is worth serious consideration — we would rather tell you that than buy a house you should have kept. Massachusetts law lets cities and towns offer tax title payment agreements, and a 2024 reform expanded them: agreements can now run up to 10 years with as little as 10% down (previously capped at 5 years with 25% down), and the town can waive some or all of the accrued interest. Two caveats. First, this is a local option — each town has to adopt it, and the terms vary, so ask your treasurer or collector what your town actually offers. Second, a plan only helps if the underlying math works: if the house also needs repairs you cannot fund, or the monthly amount is not sustainable, defaulting on the agreement puts you right back on the foreclosure track with a larger balance. Selling converts the problem to cash in one step; a payment plan spreads it out. We are happy to give you a real offer number so you can compare both paths concretely.

Yes. Massachusetts municipalities are allowed to sell or assign their tax titles to private investment firms, and several — Tallage is the best-known — have bought thousands of them across the state. The assignment changes who you owe, not your rights: you keep the same right of redemption, meaning the debt can still be paid off in full and the tax title released, right up until the Land Court forecloses. The practical difference is that the payoff goes to the private purchaser instead of the town, and these firms pursue foreclosure more aggressively than most municipalities, so the timeline is usually less forgiving. In a sale, our closing attorney requests the redemption figure directly from the assignee, verifies the charges are lawful (Massachusetts courts and the Attorney General have pushed back on padded fees), and pays it from the proceeds at closing — the same mechanics as redeeming from the town. If you have received letters from a private lien holder, that is a reason to move sooner, not a reason the house cannot be sold.

No. You are not personally responsible for a deceased owner's property taxes — the lien attaches to the house, not to you — and you do not need to pay anything out of pocket to sell. The back taxes, interest, and fees are paid from the sale proceeds at closing, just like any other lien. Two things do matter. First, interest keeps accruing while the estate is sorted out, and if the taxes went unpaid for years before the owner died, the balance may already be in tax title and compounding at the older, higher rate — so a long-delayed probate quietly eats the equity. Second, the estate generally needs a personal representative appointed by the Probate and Family Court before the house can transfer clear title. We buy inherited properties with back taxes regularly: probate timing, the municipal lien certificate, and the tax-title payoff are all coordinated through the one closing.

Yes. A federal or Massachusetts income-tax lien attaches to the property, but it does not prevent a sale — it has to be dealt with at closing like any other lien. When the sale proceeds are enough to cover it, the lien is simply paid off at closing from your proceeds. When they are not, the IRS has a discharge process — Form 14135, explained in IRS Publication 783 — that removes the lien from the specific property being sold so title can transfer; the IRS asks for the application at least 45 days before the closing, which is exactly why we want to know about an income-tax lien early. A discharge frees the house, not the person — any remaining balance is still owed — but it means the lien does not have to kill the sale. Massachusetts DOR liens are resolved the same practical way, with a payoff or release coordinated through the closing attorney.