Behind on Property Taxes in Massachusetts?

Back Taxes in Massachusetts: Your Options

This page explains what happens in Massachusetts when property taxes on land go unpaid. Your city or town collects the tax. The page covers interest, the tax taking, tax title, redemption, the Land Court foreclosure case and the excess equity rules added in 2024.

After a tax taking you still have the right to redeem until the Land Court forecloses it, so you can pay or sell the land. The cost grows the longer it stays unpaid. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your own parcel, ask your city or town treasurer or collector.

When Massachusetts property taxes go unpaid

Tax bills are due on dates your city or town sets, often in installments. Overdue amounts bear interest at 14 percent a year, counted from the due date (M.G.L. c.59 §57).

What the city or town does next: the tax taking

If taxes stay unpaid, the city or town can make a tax taking by recording an instrument of taking at the registry of deeds. That gives it tax title to the land, which is a lien, not full ownership yet (Mass.gov tax lien foreclosure outline).

Unpaid taxes for later years are added to the tax title account.

Redemption

Anyone with an interest in the land can redeem before a foreclosure petition is filed by paying the treasurer the tax title account balance with interest and charges. The law now sets that interest at 8 percent a year (M.G.L. c.60 §62). The rate dropped from 16 percent for tax titles entered on or after November 1, 2024. Older tax titles may still carry 16 percent (Division of Local Services).

Once a petition is filed in Land Court, court costs and legal fees can be added to what you owe. Act before a final judgment, because the right to redeem ends then.

Land Court foreclosure

The holder of the tax title can petition the Land Court to foreclose all rights of redemption 12 months after the taking. It can file sooner if the buildings are found abandoned, if the redemption amount exceeds the assessed value, or if the owner consents in writing (M.G.L. c.60 §65).

If the court enters a judgment of foreclosure, your right to redeem ends and the holder gets full title.

Excess equity after foreclosure

Chapter 140 of the Acts of 2024 changed the tax title law (Acts 2024, c.140). After a final foreclosure judgment, the holder must choose to keep the property or sell it, and the former owner can claim the excess equity above the amounts owed (M.G.L. c.60 §64A). Ask an attorney about deadlines for a claim.

Your options if you are behind

Your best choice depends on the land, the amount owed and whether a Land Court case has started.

• Pay the full amount owed, with penalties, interest and costs, before the next step in the process.
• Ask the tax office whether it offers a payment plan, and get the terms in writing.
• Sell the land before the deadline. The back taxes are paid from the sale at closing.
• If the land was inherited, gather the death certificate and any will or probate papers early, because a sale needs someone with authority to sign.
• If the numbers are large or a deadline is close, talk to a real estate attorney.

Selling land with back taxes in Massachusetts

You can sell land in tax title as long as the right to redeem has not been foreclosed. At closing, the closing attorney gets a redemption figure from the treasurer and pays it from the sale price. That ends the tax title and the buyer gets clear title.

EasyLotBuyer buys vacant land in Massachusetts for cash, including lots 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

Your city or town collector has the tax bills and the treasurer has the tax title account and redemption figures. Instruments of taking are recorded at the county registry of deeds. For a Land Court case, check the docket with the Land Court.