Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Real property on which taxes are delinquent becomes �tax defaulted property� by operation of law and declaration of the tax collector. ��Tax-defaulted property� is real property which is subject to a lien for taxes which, by operation of law and by declaration of the tax collector, are in default and from which the lien of the taxes for which it was declared tax-defaulted has not been removed.� (Rev. & Tax. Code, � 126.)

The property remains subject to the original owner�s rights of redemption until those rights are terminated. �Tax-defaulted property may be redeemed until the right of redemption is terminated.� (Rev. & Tax. Code, � 4101.)

If the property is not redeemed within five years after it becomes tax defaulted, the property is subject to sale by the tax collector.

Five years or more after the property has

become tax defaulted, the tax collector

shall have the power to sell and shall

attempt to sell in accordance with Section

3692 all or any portion of tax-defaulted

property that has not been redeemed,

without regard to the boundaries of the

parcels, as provided in this chapter,

unless by other provisions of law the

property is not subject to sale.

(Rev. & Tax. Code, � 3691 subd. (a)(Emphasis added.)