Tax Sale

The following notes are intended to provide a general outline of the tax sale process. For complete information, prospective purchasers should consult the Local Government Act, in particular (but not limited to) Sections 645 to 672.

Process

The annual tax sale is held in the form of a public auction on the last Monday in September. It is a collection tool that enables municipalities to recover outstanding property taxes. Properties with three years of outstanding taxes are auctioned to the highest bidder.

Tax Sale Information

The Township is required by the Local Government Act to sell at Tax Sale all properties whose taxes have not been paid for three years. The Local Government Act gives the Collector authority to sell a property for the Upset Price, which equals all outstanding taxes, penalties, interest, 5% tax sale costs, and Land Title Office fees. All property sales are "as is" without warrant or guarantee by the Township of Langley.

Advertising

The Local Government Act requires municipalities to advertise in a local paper not less than 3, or more than 10 days prior to the Tax Sale. The legal description and street address must be published. To avoid your property being listed in this ad in the newspaper, your delinquent taxes must be paid by August 31, prior to the Tax Sale date.

Tax Sale

A public auction will be held at 10:00 am, on the last Monday in September each year in Council Chambers, Civic Facility. Bidding is accepted on all properties. Prospective bidders are advised that it is their responsibility to search the title of the property in advance to determine if there are any charges registered against the property. The minimum bid is the amount of the Upset Price. If no bidding takes place within three calls by the Collector (auctioneer), the Township is declared the purchaser at the Upset Price.

Purchasing Property

Full payment (i.e. cash, bank draft, certified cheque) must be remitted immediately. If a purchaser leaves the premises without paying, they will lose the property. If payment is not remitted, the Collector again offers the property for sale.

Notifying Charge Holders

The Collector is required by law to search all property titles, and within 90 days after Tax Sale notify all registered charge holders shown on each property.

Redemption

Property owners have a one-year time period following the sale, in which the property can be redeemed. During that period, the property may be redeemed, by paying the outstanding charges and interest. The original owner has one year after the property is sold at Tax Sale to pay the taxes and retain their property. This is called redemption. All registered charge holders have full right to redeem the property.

To redeem the property, the charge holder must remit the full upset price, plus interest on the purchase price at a rate set by the Province, within one year of the Tax Sale. As soon as the property is redeemed, the Collector will refund to the Tax Sale purchaser the purchase price, plus interest to the date of redemption.

Property Not Redeemed

If the property is not redeemed during the one year period, the Collector registers the new owner with Land Title and Survey Authority, thus cancelling all previous registered charges, except for those matters set out in Section 276(1)(a) to (g) of the Land Title Act  and any lien of the Crown, an improvement district, or a local district.

The new owners are required to pay the property sales tax to the Provincial Sales Tax Administrator after application has been made to register in the Land Titles Office.