Question

What happens if you do not pay your property taxes?

Answer 1

I'm not sure on whether you're asking about personal property taxes or real estate taxes.

But if you don't pay your real estate taxes when due you'll be hit with a penalty which is interest per year that adds onto the amount due for the real estate taxes.

Then you usually have at least 3 years to pay off the owed real estate property taxes before the real estate is put up for sale at a tax auction where someone else bids on and buys your home or land from the county.

You must pay the full amount of real estate taxes due within that 3 years to keep your house or land.

For personal property taxes you usually only have 1 to 2 years to pay the personal property tax before the county will issue a warrant to the sheriff to either collect the amount of money owed on the personal property or collect and seize the personal property itself.

Answer 2

I had a buddy who ran into trouble with unpaid property taxes, and it got stressful fast. The penalties and interest alone made the amount owed pile up quickly, and he almost lost his rental property at a tax auction. He managed to pay it off in time but learned the hard way how important tax planning is, especially for rental properties.  

One thing that could’ve helped him earlier was using tax strategies like cost segregation to reduce taxable income. It’s a solid way for short-term rental owners to accelerate depreciation and maximize tax savings, definitely worth looking into for better cash flow management.

Answer 3

If you do not pay your property taxes you will be charged interest per year on the property taxes.

And if you still fail to pay the property taxes then you will eventually lose the property.

Failure to pay real estate property taxes will eventually lead to a tax foreclosure sale in which your property and home or business will be auctioned off to the highest bidder at a property tax auction.

The person will be able to get your property for the taxes owed or what they bid on the property at the property tax auction.

As long as the property has not gone into a tax foreclosure sale you can still pay the property taxes in full and any interest and fees owed to keep the property.

Most states have between 2 to 3 years in which you have to pay your property taxes before you lose the home or property to a tax sale.

In my state I can go 3 years being delinquent on my property taxes before it goes up for a tax sale if it's a residential property and has a home on it.

If it's just land or vacant land I have 2 years to pay the property tax before it goes up for a tax sale.

Personal property taxes you have to pay them in full yearly or risk losing the property physically and you won't be able to register your vehicle until the personal property taxes are paid.

If you fail to pay your personal property taxes the Sheriff will come to your home and either collect the money you owe or they will take your property.

This happened to my neighbor a few years ago.

He couldn't pay his personal property taxes and so eventually the Sheriff showed up and took his trailer from him that he used in his business.