Behind on Property Taxes in Connecticut?

Back Taxes in Connecticut: Your Options

This page explains what happens in Connecticut when property taxes on land go unpaid. Connecticut has no county government, so each town or city collects its own taxes and sets its own due dates. The page covers when a tax becomes delinquent, the interest, the tax lien, the tax sale and its redemption period, lien foreclosure and lien sales, and the choices you have.

A Connecticut town can collect back taxes in more than one way. It can hold a tax sale, foreclose the tax lien in court, or sell the lien to a private company. In each case you keep the land until the process ends, and you can pay off the taxes or sell the land. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your own case, ask your town tax collector or a Connecticut attorney.

When Connecticut property taxes go delinquent

Each town sets its due dates, and many split the bill into installments. The tax collector must advertise when taxes are due and when they become delinquent (C.G.S. 12-145).

State law gives you about one month. A tax or installment due on the first of a month is delinquent if it is not paid by the first of the next month. If it is due on another day, it is delinquent if unpaid by the same date of the next month (C.G.S. 12-146).

Interest on delinquent taxes

Delinquent taxes add interest of 18 percent a year, counted back to the original due date. Any part of a month counts as a whole month, so the charge works out to 1.5 percent a month. There is a minimum interest charge of $2 per installment, which a town may choose not to apply (C.G.S. 12-146). Fees and collection costs can be added on top.

What the town does next

Unpaid real estate taxes are a lien on the land (C.G.S. 12-172). The tax collector can file a certificate in the town land records to continue the lien (C.G.S. 12-173). After that, the town picks one of several paths.

• Tax sale. The tax collector posts, records, publishes and mails notice 9 to 12 weeks before a public auction, and mails notice to the owner and lienholders at least twice (C.G.S. 12-157). The land is sold to the highest bidder, or to the town if no bid covers the debt.
• Lien foreclosure. The tax collector can sue in court to foreclose the tax lien (C.G.S. 12-181).
• Lien sale. A town can sell its tax liens to a private buyer. The buyer gets the town's rights, including interest and collection costs, and may later foreclose (C.G.S. 12-195h).

Redemption after a tax sale

After a tax sale, the collector signs a deed within two weeks, but the town clerk holds it unrecorded for six months. Within 60 days of the sale, the collector publishes and mails a notice with the sale price and the date the redemption period ends (C.G.S. 12-157).

You can redeem for up to six months after the sale. A town can shorten this to 60 days for abandoned property or other conditions it sets by ordinance. To redeem, you pay the collector the taxes, interest and charges due at the time of sale, plus interest of 18 percent a year on the full price the buyer paid, plus other taxes and charges owed to the town. If you do not redeem in time, the deed is recorded and your title ends.

If the sale price was more than the debt, the extra goes into escrow. If the land is not redeemed, the town first takes any other taxes you owe it, then pays the rest to the Superior Court. You and lienholders then have 90 days to apply to the court for that money (C.G.S. 12-157).

If the town has foreclosed the lien in court, or a lien buyer is foreclosing, the court process sets the deadlines. Ask the lien holder for a payoff statement and read every court notice.

Your options if you are behind

Your choice depends on the amount owed, the land and your plans.

• Pay the town. Ask the tax collector for the full amount with interest through the day you will pay. Ask whether your town offers a payment arrangement.
• If your lien was sold, pay the lien buyer. Ask it for a written payoff statement.
• Sell the land. The back taxes are paid from the sale at closing.
• Do nothing. You can lose the land at a tax sale or in a foreclosure, plus the interest and costs.

Selling land with back taxes in Connecticut

You can sell land with unpaid taxes until a tax sale redemption period ends or a foreclosure takes your title. At closing, the closing attorney gets a payoff from the town tax collector or the lien buyer and pays it from the sale price. You get the rest.

EasyLotBuyer buys vacant land in Connecticut for cash, including land with back taxes, liens, title issues or no road access, and land from heirs and estates. We make a cash offer within 24 hours, charge no fees or commissions, and pay the closing costs. We can close in as few as 7 days. Back taxes are paid at closing from the sale.

Where to check your tax status

Call or visit the tax collector in the town where the land is. Many towns show tax bills and payment status online. The town clerk keeps the land records, where a lien certificate, a tax sale notice or a lien assignment would be recorded. The state statutes are in Chapter 204 and Chapter 205 of the General Statutes.