O.C.G.A. § 48-4-47 (2019)
Tender of redemption price before action to cancel tax deed
(a) After notice to foreclose the right of redemption as provided for in this article has been given, no action shall be filed, allowed, sanctioned, or maintained for the purpose of setting aside, canceling, or in any way invalidating the tax deed referred to in the notice or the title conveyed by the tax deed unless and until the plaintiff in the action pays or legally tenders to the grantee in the deed or to his successors the full amount of the redemption price for the property, as provided for in this article. (b) Subsection (a) of this Code section shall apply unless it clearly appears that: (1) The tax or special assessment for the collection of which the execution under or by virtue of which the sale was held was not due at the time of the sale; or (2) Service or notice was not given as required in this article.
History
Ga. L. 1937, p. 491, § 2; Code 1933,
§ 91A-437, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Tender requirement does not violate due process. - Delinquent taxpayers could not maintain a suit to set aside a tax deed because they failed to pay or tender the redemption amount required under O.C.G.A. § 48-4-47. O.C.G.A. § 48-4-47 did not violate their
due process rights, although the redemption amount of $112,416 dwarfed the original $2,000 in unpaid taxes due to the addition of taxes and penalties under O.C.G.A. § 48-4-42. Saffo v. Foxworthy, Inc., 286 Ga. 284, 687 S.E.2d 463, 2009 Ga. LEXIS 734 (2009), cert. denied, 560
U.S. 939, 130 S. Ct. 3360, 176 L. Ed. 2d 1246, 2010 U.S. LEXIS 4422 (2010). Effect of plaintiff’s financial inability to make tender. - Plaintiff’s financial inability to make the tender of the amount owed does not alter the requirements of this statute. Ayer v. Lamar County, 194 Ga. 712, 22 S.E.2d 606, 1942 Ga. LEXIS 665 (1942). Collateral attack on ownership of property. - Plaintiffs were barred from collaterally attacking the validity of the county’s ownership of property at the time of the demolition of a home on the property since there was no tender of the redemption price to the county regarding the property and there was nothing in the record to indicate that taxes, which formed the basis for the tax sale of the property, were not due at the time of sale or that the county failed to provide proper notice or service of the county’s bar of redemption. Hill v. Mayor & Aldermen of Savannah, 233 Ga. App. 742, 505 S.E.2d 35, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 1005 (1998), cert. denied, No. S98C1899, 1998 Ga. LEXIS 1223 (Ga. Dec. 4, 1998). Tender of redemption price not required since notice not given to redeeming party. - Trial court erred by finding that the failure of the plaintiff to tender the full amount of the redemption price for the property at issue before filing suit barred that action under the statute since the plaintiff claimed that the plaintiff did not receive the statutorily required notice. H & C Dev., Inc. v. Bershader, 248 Ga. App. 546, 546 S.E.2d 907, 2001 Ga. App. LEXIS 340 (2001), cert. denied, No. S01C0992, 2001 Ga. LEXIS 739 (Ga. Sept. 17, 2001). Exception to tender requirement found. - Because an exception to the
tender requirement that the redemption price be tendered before the validity of a tax deed could be challenged applied, as it appeared that the tax or special assessment for the collection of which the execution under or by virtue of which the sale was held was not due at the time of the sale based on the property’s tax-exempt status, the appeals court rejected a claim that trustees for the property lacked standing to contest the tax sale because they did not tender the amount of unpaid taxes for which the property was sold. Marathon Inv. Corp. v. Spinkston, 281 Ga. 888, 644 S.E.2d 133, 2007 Ga. LEXIS 306 (2007). Because there was evidence in the form of a taxpayer’s averment that there were no taxes due at the time of a tax sale, relieving the taxpayer of the obligation to make a complete tender prior to seeking redemption of the taxpayer’s property under O.C.G.A. § 48-4-47(b)(1), a trial court did not abuse the court’s discretion in granting an interlocutory injunction to maintain the status quo, pending resolution of the issues presented. Am. Lien Fund, LLC v. Dixon, 286 Ga. 562, 690 S.E.2d 415, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 178 (2010). Failure to give notice of right to redemption. - O.C.G.A. § 48-4-47 was inapplicable in a redemption company’s action against a purchaser to enforce redemption of real property because the purchaser had not given the statutorily required notice of foreclosure of the right to redemption at any time since the purchaser’s purchase of the property by tax deed. Cmty. Renewal & Redemption v. Nix, 288 Ga. 439, 704 S.E.2d 759, 2011 Ga. LEXIS 3 (2011).
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. 72 Am. Jur. 2d, State and Local Taxation, § 723. C.J.S. 85 C.J.S., Taxation, § 1441 et seq. ALR. Necessity of recording tax deed to protect title as against interest derived from former owner, 65 A.L.R. 1015.
Tax title or deed as subject to attack for want of notice of application for tax deed or of expiration of redemption period, where a statute makes tax deed conclusive evidence of matters preliminary to its issuance or limits attack thereon to specific grounds or exempts deed from attack for procedural irregularities or omissions, 134 A.L.R. 796.