Tax Sale By Public Tender

For our “Featured Listings” this information is available free of charge at this website. It may give you important details about the property, such as:

Is the land on a lake or a river?

Is there a building on the land?

Is the land accessible by a road?

For “Featured” listings the InfoPak will have information on all of the properties being sold by that municipality. It will also provide the forms that are needed to submit a tender, as well as instructions on how to fill out and submitting these forms. You can download an InfoPak for free if you are an OTS Member (Non-Member cost is $25.00). If you would like information about how you will receive your order after you purchase it, click on “Frequently Asked Questions” in the “How To Buy” menu. For “Members Only” listings you will be required to contact the Municipality to obtain an information package as we don’t have an agreement with these Municipalities to distribute their information packages.

Most, but not all, mortgages, liens, executions, etc. are eliminated by a tax sale. Interests in favour of the “Crown”, and some other interests, will continue to affect the property after a tax sale.

To find out what, if any, interests will affect the property after a tax sale you need to obtain an up-to-date title search and execution search. You can order searches directly from this web site. One of our in-house title searchers will prepare a brief “Title Search Summary,” written in plain English, not legal jargon, so anyone can understand the results of the search. The Title Search Summary will tell you if any mortgages, executions or other encumbrance will affect the property after the tax sale.

If you would like information about how you will receive your order after you purchase it, click on “How To Buy” in the top right menu and “Frequently Asked Questions”.

Once you have reviewed all of the information about the property, received your title search summary, and visited the property (you can only observe from the road – entry on property would be considered trespassing), you can decide if you would like to buy the property. If the answer is yes, then you can follow the instructions that can be found in the InfoPak and submit a Tender.

The Tender to Purchase will include information such as your name and address and the amount that you are willing to pay for the property. Instructions for completing this form are included with the InfoPak’s that are available from this site.

Your tender must be accompanied by a deposit of at least twenty percent of the amount that you are tendering. For example, if the amount of your tender is $10,000.00, your deposit must be at least $2,000.00. If your deposit is for less than 20% of the amount tendered your tender will be rejected.

Your deposit must be made by way of money order or by way of bank draft or cheque certified by a bank or trust corporation.

If your tender is the highest tender received by the municipality, you will have fourteen days to pay the balance owing, plus Land Transfer Tax, any property taxes or interest that have come due since the property was first advertised for tax sale, plus HST, if applicable. If you do not pay that amount within fourteen days your deposit will be forfeited to the municipality. The second highest Tenderer will then be given an opportunity to buy the property.

Your Tender must be submitted in a sealed envelope which indicates on it that it is a tax sale and provides a short description or municipal address of the land sufficient to permit the treasurer to identify the parcel of land to which the Tender relates.

Your tender must be received by the office of the treasurer of the municipality no later than the time and date indicated by the municipality. If your tender is not received by that time it will be rejected. That date and time is shown in the advertisement for tax sale, which can be seen at this site and is included in the InfoPak.

Example:

Take Notice that tenders are invited for the purchase of the lands described below and will be received until 3:00 p.m. local time on 24 November 2021…

The Treasurer of the municipality, at a place in the municipality that is open to the public, will open the sealed Tender Envelopes as soon as possible after the last date and time for receiving tenders. If you like, you may attend the tender opening, although you are not required to do so.

The treasurer will reject any tender that does not meet the requirements of the Municipal Tax Sale Rules. The treasurer will then reject all but the two highest of the remaining tenders. If your tender is rejected it will be returned to you by regular mail, along with your deposit and a statement of the reason for the rejection.

You will be notified by regular mail that you will be declared to be the successful purchaser if, within 14 calendar days of the mailing of the notice, the balance of the amount tendered, the applicable land transfer tax and the accumulated taxes, and HST if applicable, are paid to the treasurer. If you do not pay this amount with 14 days you will lose your deposit. The second highest tenderer will then be given an opportunity to buy the property.

If you are declared the successful purchaser the treasurer will prepare a tax deed showing you, or someone else if you choose, as the new owner of the property. The person shown as the new owner will have to sign the deed and have it “commissioned” by a Commissioner for Taking Oaths. If you go to the treasurer’s office to sign the deed someone there will most likely be able to commission the deed. If you prefer that the treasurer send you the deed to be signed, you could have it commissioned by a lawyer, doctor, professional engineer, member of the clergy, or other Commissioner for Taking Oaths. The deed will then be registered at the local land registry office. As soon as the tax deed is registered you become the owner of the property