Can I sell an inherited house that owes back taxes in Georgia?

Yes. You can sell your own share even when the house owes back taxes. You do not need the other heirs to agree. We buy your share and take on the tax problem.

What happens to a house when the owner dies and the taxes go unpaid?

The taxes are still due each year. The county adds more to the bill, then files a lien. If it stays unpaid, the county sells the house at a tax sale, often for far less than it is worth.

Can I still sell after the county holds a tax sale?

Often, yes. Georgia gives you at least 12 months after a tax sale to buy the house back. In that window, your share still has value, and we can still buy it.

How long do I have to buy the property back after a Georgia tax sale?

At least 12 months. To buy it back you pay what the buyer paid, plus a 20% fee. After 12 months, the buyer can send a notice that ends this right.

My sister won't pay her half of the property taxes. What happens?

This is the single most-argued version of the problem online, and the hard answer is that the county does not care whose half it is. The tax is on the house, not on a person. If nobody pays, the house goes toward a tax sale and every owner loses, including the one who paid faithfully for years. In Georgia a co-owner who pays more than their share can generally seek contribution from the others, but that is its own fight and it does not stop the clock. Paying to protect the asset and dealing with your sister afterward is usually the cheaper order of operations.

Can someone pay the back taxes and take the house?

Not by simply paying them. Quietly paying someone else's property tax does not transfer ownership in Georgia. What does transfer it is a tax sale, where the county sells the property to collect, and even then the buyer gets a tax deed subject to a redemption right — usually 12 months (O.C.G.A. § 48-4-40). Any owner or heir can redeem, and one heir can redeem for the whole family.

We never probated my mom's estate and now the taxes are behind. Are we too late?

Usually not. The house passed to the heirs the day she died, whether or not anyone went to court. What is missing is the paperwork, not the ownership. The urgent item is the tax clock, not the probate — probate can be sorted out afterward, but a tax sale runs on its own schedule. Deal with the county first.

Who pays to fix the title and the back taxes if I sell my share?

We do. You pay no retainer, no filing fees, and no attorney bills, and you are not asked to clear the back taxes before selling. When we buy your share, the taxes and the title-cure work move to our side and stay there.

Do all the heirs have to agree to sell because of the back taxes?

No. You can sell your own share on your own. The other heirs keep their shares. They do not have to agree or sign for you to sell yours.

What if I can't afford to pay the back taxes myself?

Then selling your share may be the best move. You get cash now, and you do not pay the back taxes. We take them on as part of the deal.

HomeInherited house with back taxes

Inherited property with back taxes in Georgia — can you sell before the tax sale?

Yes. You can sell your share of an inherited house even when it owes back taxes. In Georgia you can often sell even after a tax sale. The state gives you at least 12 months to buy the house back. We buy your share. We deal with the taxes. We handle the rest. The other heirs do not have to agree or sign.

Who this is for

Maybe a parent died and left the house to you and your siblings. The taxes have not been paid in years. Now a letter says the county may sell the house.

Maybe you just found out the house is behind on taxes. You live out of state. The other heirs will not pick up the phone.

Maybe the tax sale already took place. You think it is too late. Often, it is not.

If any of this sounds like you, this page is for you. It walks through heir property in Georgia and what to do when the taxes are late.

What happens when the taxes go unpaid and the owner has died

When the owner of a house dies, the taxes do not stop. They are still due each year. But often no one pays them. The heirs may not know who should. The deed may still be in the dead person’s name.

So the bill sits. The county adds more to it each year. Then the county files a lien. A lien is a legal claim on the house for the unpaid tax.

If the bill stays unpaid, the county sells the house at a tax sale. This is a public auction. The house often sells cheap — far less than it is worth. The buyer pays the back tax and takes a claim on the house.

This is the moment that scares most families. It can feel like the house is just gone. But in Georgia, it is not gone yet.

Georgia gives you a year to buy it back

Here is the part most people do not know. After a tax sale in Georgia, you still have time. The law gives you at least 12 months to buy the house back. This right is called redemption. It just means you can buy it back. (Georgia law: O.C.G.A. § 48-4-40.)

To buy it back, you pay the tax-sale buyer what they paid. You also pay a 20% premium on top. A premium is just an added fee. So you pay back what the buyer paid at the sale, plus one fifth more on top.

You have at least a full year to do this. After 12 months, the buyer can send a notice. That notice can end your right to buy it back. So the clock is real, but you do have time.

This is why a tax sale is not the end. It is a deadline. And a deadline is something we can plan around.

You can sell your share — you do not need the other heirs

In Georgia, heirs own a house as a group. Each heir owns a share. The legal name for this is tenants in common. It just means more than one person owns the house at once.

Here is the key point. You can sell your own share. You do not need the other heirs to agree. You do not need them to sign. You do not even need to tell them.

So if the house is behind on taxes and the family is stuck, you are not stuck. You can sell your share to us and walk away.

Your realistic options

You have more than one path. Here they are, plain and fair.

Pay the back taxes yourself. If you have the cash and want to keep the house, you can pay the county. This stops the tax sale. But the other heirs still own their shares with you.
Do nothing and let the tax sale happen. This is the risk. The house can sell cheap. You may lose your share if no one buys it back in time.
Sell the whole house. This can work, but every heir must agree and sign. If one heir says no, this path stops.
Sell just your share to us. You get cash now. You do not need the others. We take on the taxes and the cleanup.

There is no one right answer. The best path is the one that fits your life. We lay it out with you, with no pressure.

What we do

We buy one heir’s share at a time. Here is how it works.

Tell us about the house. Just the address and a rough idea of who else is on the title. You do not need any papers to start.
We do the digging. We pull the title and check the taxes. We find out how much time is left before or after a tax sale. We move fast, because the clock is real.
We send a written offer. It is clear and plain. No tricks. You take it home and think it over.
You decide. We close. If you say yes, we draw up the deed and wire your cash. This takes about 30 days for a clean case.

We plan the whole deal around the back taxes. If a tax sale is close, we move faster. If it has passed, we work inside the time you have left to buy it back. The tax mess and the title cleanup become our job, not yours.

And we pay for it. You do not clear the back taxes before selling, and you do not pay a retainer, a filing fee, or an attorney bill. When we buy your share, that cost moves to our side and stays there. You are not asked to spend money to get money out.

Why we are safe to call

We buy houses with messy titles. That is our normal work. Back taxes, a deed in a dead person’s name, a missing heir — none of it scares us off.

We work across Georgia, in Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Clayton counties. You reach us by form first. No one calls you out of the blue. We get back to you within 24 hours.

We are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. If you want, talk to a probate lawyer too. We are happy to be one of the calls you make, not the only one.