Background

Tax Lien Services Unlimited, Inc. (TLS) was established to provide investment opportunities to investors by acquiring and servicing portfolios of delinquent property tax liens in several states and municipalities. Its principals have been acquiring and servicing tax liens since 1995 for institutional, private, and other investors. Third-party servicing is available for those who want to invest personally, corporately, or through a Self-Directed IRA.

Business Process

TLS acquires real estate tax liens from states, counties, and municipalities that subsequently use the money to fund government services, such as primary education. TLS performs due diligence on the properties underlying these tax liens, evaluates historical asset performance in the region, and sets buying parameters with investment objectives in mind.

After purchase, tax liens are tracked in MORT, a proprietary system. The property owner pays the back taxes to the county, along with statutory interest and fees, which are forwarded to TLS. Most liens redeem during the statutory redemption period. In very few instances, it may be necessary for TLS to take title to the property and sell it, in order to recover the investment.

Investor Strategy

Municipal tax liens are created when real estate owners fail to pay their property taxes. The municipalities charge interest and penalties on the delinquent amount. Most municipalities have stringent laws that allow them to place a lien on the underlying property, with allowance for a relatively fast-tracked process to foreclose on the property if the taxes remain unpaid for an extended period of time. Upon foreclosure, the property is acquired by the lienholder free and clear of any underlying mortgages.

Our tax lien strategy enables clients to benefit from the above-average yields afforded by these relatively low-risk, highly secured, high-credit, and quality instruments.

In most cases, tax liens supercede all privately held liens, yet annual taxes generally equate to only a small fraction of property value.

We buy liens on a wide variety of property types, including residential, multi-family, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and vacant land.

We are committed to dealing with all taxpayers respectfully, fairly, and consistently. Extensive tracking and control measures have been implemented at our service center, with the intent of promoting these values.

Investment Approach

TLS' investment approach focuses on:

Acquiring high-quality assets through superior due diligence, financial analysis, and proprietary systems and procedures.
Servicing purchased liens efficiently through superior portfolio analysis, in conjunction with state-of-the-art systems and technology.
Managing mature liens by applying specific knowledge and understanding of state tax lien statues, leveraging extensive relationships with attorneys, brokers, contractors, and title companies in this process.

How Tax Liens Work

Many states require their counties and municipalities to sell tax liens to the public when property taxes are delinquent. Investors acquire property tax liens primarily to earn statutory interest on their investment. States would rather have their counties receive cash instead of a receivable. The proceeds from tax lien sales are used to fund municipal services, such as schools, fire and police services, and so on. Each state has its own statutes that regulate the sale of tax liens. With the purchase, the investor is assigned the county's legal rights to collect the delinquent taxes being sold.

Flowchart illustrating how tax liens work

Third-Party Servicing

TLS is highly experienced in servicing and investing in tax liens. We have over $15 million of tax liens under management with growth capacity. Our call center is backed up by a knowledgable servicing team and our MORT relational database, enabling us to efficiently manage tax lien portfolios for third-party clients.

For more informtion on our servicing capabilities, please contact us.

MORT

MORT is a proprietary enterprise-level relational database system, developed through years of planning and refinement by TLS. MORT efficiently manages tax lien portfolios for our third-party clients. Tax liens are individually tracked from the due diligence phase through the final resolution of each lien. MORT also incorporates the financial and legal nuances for liens in many jurisdictions.

MORT's reporting abilities allow it to generate a clear picture of both individual assets and entire portfolios. Pictures, documents, and files can be attached to each asset in order to facilitate the servicing process.

This technology allows our team – working both on- and off-site – to access up-to-date portfolio information. We also grant our clients access to MORT in order to remotely track their portfolio in real-time. We are confident that MORT will prove to be an invaluable tool in the management of your portfolio, just as it has become an essential part of our team's daily activities.