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States › Maine › Tax Sale Summary
There are 16 Counties in Maine. It became the 23th state on March 15, 1820. The state motto is "I Lead". It has about 1,274,923 residents.
Currently, none of the counties offer tax lien certificates, instead they offer tax deeds.
Summary: The filing of the tax lien certificate in the registry of deeds create�s a tax lien mortgage on the real estate to the municipality in which the real estate is situated having priority over all other mortgages, liens, attachments and encumbrances of any nature, and shall give to the municipality all the rights usually incident to a mortgagee, except that the municipality shall not have any right of possession of said real estate until the right of redemption shall have expired (Sec. 942, Sec. 943). If the tax lien mortgage, together with interest and costs, shall not be paid within 18 months after the date of the filing of the tax lien certificate in the registry of deeds, the tax lien mortgage shall be deemed to have been foreclosed and the right of redemption to have expired and the title to the property passes to the municipality. From that point, the disposition of the property by auction or other means is a matter of local law or choice.
A tax collector or constable of the municipality who shall have the same powers as the tax collector, may sell at auction real property on which taxes are delinquent (Sec. 1071). If any tax on real estate remains unpaid on the first Monday in February next after said tax was assessed, the tax collector shall sell at public auction so much of such real estate as is necessary for the payment of said tax, interest and all the charges, at 9 o'clock in the forenoon of said first Monday in February at the office of the tax collector or at the place where the last preceding annual municipal meeting was held. When no person appears to discharge the taxes duly assessed on any such real estate of resident or nonresident owners, with costs of advertising, on or before the time of sale, the tax collector shall proceed to sell at public auction, to the highest bidder, so much of such real estate as is necessary to pay the tax due (Sec. 1071, Sec. 1074). The treasurer shall not at that time deliver the deeds to the grantees (purchaser), but put them on file in his office, to be delivered at the expiration of 2 years from the day of sale, and the treasurer shall after the expiration of 2 years deliver said deed to the grantee or his heirs, provided the owner, the mortgagee or any person in possession or other person legally taxable therefore does not within such time redeem the estate from such sale, by payment or tender of the taxes, all the charges and interest on the whole at the rate of 8% a year from the date of sale to the time of redemption, and costs as provided, with 67 cents for the deed and certificate of acknowledgment (Sec. 1076).
Law: Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, Part 2, Chapter 105, Subchapter IX, "Delinquent Taxes."
Contact: Local tax collectors/constables (Sec. 1071).
Interest Rate: N/A
Auction Type: Tax Deed, for statutory tax sales (Sec. 1076, Sec. 1080).
Bidding Procedure: The tax collector shall proceed to sell at public auction, to the highest bidder, so much of such real estate as is necessary to pay the tax due, in the case of each person assessed, If the bidding is for less than the whole, it shall be for a fractional part of the estate, and the bidder who will pay the sum due for the least fractional part shall be the purchaser. (Sec. 1074).
Costs: Statutory costs payable by a purchaser at a tax sale include $3 for advertising and sales costs, 25 cents for each copy and return required to be filed, 67 cents for the deed and certificate of acknowledgement, and an unspecified amount for printing costs (Sec. 1074).
Redemption Period: N/A
Deed assigned at Foreclosure to: The tax sale purchaser (Sec. 1080, Sec. 1083)
Notes:
Counties:
| County: | Population: | Bidding Type: | Auction Type: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Androscoggin | 103,793 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Aroostook | 73,938 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Cumberland | 265,612 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Franklin | 29,467 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Hancock | 51,791 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Kennebec | 117,114 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Knox | 39,618 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Lincoln | 33,616 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Oxford | 54,755 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Penobscot | 144,919 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Piscataquis | 17,235 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Sagadahoc | 35,214 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Somerset | 50,888 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Waldo | 36,280 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| Washington | 33,941 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
| York | 186,742 | Sealed Bid | Tax Deed |
To report any updates, deletions or additions to the county list, please click here.
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