Taxes & Liens

Proposition 19 lets California homeowners 55 and older carry their property tax base to a new home anywhere in the state, up to three times in a lifetime — here’s exactly how the math works.

Every Santa Monica home sale owes a city transfer tax on top of the county’s, and the rate climbs steeply with price — up to 5.6% once a sale crosses $8 million under Measure GS.

A Riverside County home sale almost always triggers a separate supplemental property tax bill months after closing, and it’s the buyer’s bill to pay, not the seller’s.

An IRS or FTB tax lien attaches to a California home the moment the tax debt is legally due, often well before it ever shows up in a title search.

A Sacramento County home can be auctioned after five years of unpaid property taxes, but former owners have a one-year window to claim excess sale proceeds. Here is how the auction, redemption, and claims process actually works.

A money judgment doesn’t attach to your house until the creditor records an abstract of judgment with the county recorder. The resulting lien lasts ten years and can be renewed.

San Diego County supplemental tax bills run on their own delinquency calendar under Revenue and Taxation Code 75.52, not the usual property tax dates. Here’s how the timing actually works.

If a tax-defaulted property sells for more than what Orange County was owed, the leftover money can be claimed — but only within one year of the tax deed recording. Here’s the process.

San Bernardino County auctions tax-defaulted property after five years of unpaid taxes. Here is the timeline, the auction process, and how to claim excess proceeds.