Virginia Code

Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 (2026)

Lien on real estate for taxes and levies assessed thereon; responsibility of purchaser or trustee at sale; lien on rents

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section VA-LISlaw.lis.virginia.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

There shall be a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes and levies assessed thereon prior to any other lien or encumbrance. The lien shall continue to be such prior lien until actual payment shall have been made to the proper officer of the taxing authority. The purchaser at a sale, or trustee in the event of a foreclosure sale, shall cause the proceeds to be applied to the payment of all taxes and levies assessed on real estate. In the case of the purchase of a portion of a tract of land, the purchaser shall cause the proceeds to be applied to the payment of taxes and levies assessed on the entire tract, prorated in accordance with the relationship that the purchase price bears to the most recent assessed value of the entire tract. If the cost per acre of the purchased parcel is less than the assessed value per acre of the entire tract, or if, in the reasonable opinion of the local commissioner of the revenue or other assessing officer, the purchase price is less than the fair market value of the purchased parcel, the local commissioner of the revenue or other assessing officer may require that an appraisal, prepared by a state-certified or state-licensed appraiser, of the purchased parcel be provided, and in such event the proration shall be made in accordance with the relationship that the greater of (i) the appraised value of the purchased parcel or (ii) the purchase price bears to the most recent assessed value of the entire tract. In the event a proration is necessary, the purchaser's portion of such tract of land shall be relieved of such lien to the extent the proceeds exceed the purchaser's pro rata share of taxes. It shall be the responsibility of the treasurer or other proper officer of the taxing authority to cause the release of the lien. The seller's liability for taxes and levies shall be effectively prorated contractually. The words "taxes" and "levies" as used in this section include the penalties and interest accruing on such taxes and levies in pursuance of law. The lien imposed hereby shall, in addition to existing remedies for the collection of taxes and levies, be enforceable by suit in equity under the provisions of Article 4 (§ 58.1-3965 et seq.) of Chapter 39.

There shall be a further lien upon the rents of such real estate whether the same be in money or in kind, for taxes of the current year.

Code 1950, §§ 58-762, 58-1023; 1973, c. 467; 1979, c. 12; 1984, c. 675; 1994, c. 386; 1995, c. 143; 2010, c. 417.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 16 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1989–2025 · leading case: Garry Curtis v. Propel Prop. Tax Funding, 915 F.3d 234 (4th Cir. 2019).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Garry Curtis v. Propel Prop. Tax Funding, 915 F.3d 234 (4th Cir. 2019). “For instance, Virginia state law imposes a lien on real property for tax payments associated with that property, Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 . Moreover, the TPA between Curtis and Propel explicitly disclaims any effect on tax liens.”

King v. Bd. of Supervisors (In Re A.G. Van Metre, Jr., Inc.), 155 B.R. 118 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1993). · cites it 4× “Va.Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 (Michie 1991). Accordingly, there can be no distribution in this case under § 724(b)(1) since under Virginia law no liens are "senior to such tax lien.”

In Re Oglesby, 196 B.R. 938 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1996). · cites it 6× “Va.Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 (Michie 1995). Accordingly, there would be no distribution in this case under § 724(b)(1) since under Virginia law no liens are "senior to such tax lien.”

In Re Birdneck Apt. Assocs., II, L.P., 156 B.R. 499 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1993). “Under § 58.1-3340 of the Virginia Code unpaid real estate taxes constitute a priority lien encumbering the real estate.”

Hines v. Wolfe (In Re Stillwater Inc.), 443 B.R. 714 (Bankr. W.D. Va. 2011). · cites it 3× “” Additionally, Va.Code § 58.1-3340 states that “[tjhere shall be a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes and levies assessed thereon prior to any other lien or encumbrance.”

City of Martinsville v. Tultex Corp. (In Re Tultex Corp.), 250 B.R. 560 (Bankr. W.D. Va. 2000). · cites it 4× “Va.Code Ann. § 58.1-3340. This distinction is important because Virginia has historically treated personal property and real property differently.”

Harold & Williams Dev. Co. v. Crestar Bank (Harold & Williams Dev. Co.), 163 B.R. 77 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1994). · cites it 4× “Moreover, Va.Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 specifically requires the seller and the purchaser of real estate to see that their pro rata share of real estate taxes are paid.”

Curtis v. Propel Prop. Tax Funding, LLC, 265 F. Supp. 3d 647 (E.D. Va. 2017). · cites it 2× “Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3340 . This lien has priority over any other liens or encumbrances.”

McKeithen v. City of Richmond (Va. 2023). · cites it 4× “Under Code § 58.1-3340, the City’s tax lien took priority over all prior liens on the property.”

CVE, LLC v. Refund Recovery Specialists, LLC (Va. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 2× “See Code §§ 58.1-3340, -3344. The City’s lawsuit was not an action to enforce the deed of trust, nor would the City have had authority to -4- enforce the deed of trust—only its own tax lien.”

In re Rosenblum, 39 Va. Cir. 420 (Stafford Cir. Ct. 1996). · cites it 3× “Va. Code § 58.1-3340 reads in part that: There shall be a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes .”

Wilder v. Buckeye Union Ins. Co. (In re Wilder), 165 B.R. 413 (E.D. Va. 1994). · cites it 2× “Code § 58.1-3340, constitutes a prior lien ahead of all other liens.”

Show all 16 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.