Are Property Taxes dischargeable?

[LetItGo]

We are gearing up to file CH. 7 in September. We plan on keeping our house, but we are behind on our 1st half property tax installment of about $2500 and the second half + penalties & interest is due early october. I need advice would it be dischargeble after october if we wait to file? Or will not paying the prop. tax be a problem for me to keep the house? We live in Washington state if that matters. We just sold one of our cars so we can pay attorney and some Federal taxes, i can pay less to the feds and get current on the prop tax if necessary. I would appreciate input from anyone with similiar experience.

Thanks

[kenshirley]

I am not sure.
I left our home and surrendered it and some taxes were due on it at the time so I listed them.
My discharge papers state most taxes are not dischargeable but they are listed on the matrix of creditors and such and we have not heard a word about owing in monies to the county we left in some 11 months now.

[MSbklawyer]

Are Property Taxes dischargeable?

Yes and no.

Property taxes are owed by the owner and guaranteed by the corpus of the property itself.

As in kenshirley's situation, he is off the hook personally, but the taxing authority will have to be paid before a new owner can take good title.

So while the owner's liability for the taxes can be discharged, the taxing authority can still look to the property via a tax sale to collect the tax.

[kenshirley]

OK, well I know the people that bought the home and land I had and so far they have not had any additional bills on either.
Maybe the whole thing slipped though the cracks but no bills for anyone is good news.

[hereforinfo]

You can't get rid of the property taxes if you plan to keep the house. The mortgage company might be notified, and they may pay the taxes and start an escrow account for you, which would raise your monthly payment to include past and future taxes.

If you were surrendering the house, you could avoid paying the taxes. The tax debt attaches to the property, not the person. It would eventually have to be paid by the lender or new owner to release the tax lien.

But if you plan to keep the home:

"Property taxes that are more than one year-old are dischargeable. If a property tax is less than a year one, then it is nondischargable. However, there is an automatic lien against real property for delinquent property taxes. Though the tax is discharged, the lien remains attached to the property. When the property is sold, the lien must be paid."

So you could possibly discharge the tax debt if it's more than a year old, but the lien will remain on the home until you pay. This wouldn't be much of an issue until you need to sell or refinance.

[LetItGo]

Thank you all for your input!

Yes we plan on keeping the house and if and when the value comes back up we would like to be able to sell it. So it looks like I need to get current on the prop tax. I also don't want to give my mortgage company ammunition to foreclose as we are current on the mortgage.

Thanks again,
LetItGo