Property tax foreclosure in Massachusetts

The property tax process in Massachusetts, step by step

1. Taxes become overdue and interest starts

   Interest of 14 percent a year on overdue amounts

   Your tax bill is payable in installments set by your city or town. Any amount paid late is charged interest at 14 percent a year from its due date. If you are having trouble, call the collector early and ask about payment plans, exemptions and tax work-off programs for seniors and veterans.

   M.G.L. c. 59, § 57

2. Demand and notice of tax taking

   14 days after the demand, plus 14 days' notice

   The collector must send you a written demand for payment. If you do not pay within 14 days, the collector can take the land for the town after giving 14 days' notice, and for a residential home that notice must be mailed to you, posted on the home and put on the town website. The notice must explain in plain language your right to redeem, the date a foreclosure case can be filed, and your right to excess equity.

   M.G.L. c. 60, §§ 16, 53

3. Redeem from the tax title

   Until a Land Court case is filed, then on the court's terms

   You redeem by paying the treasurer the tax title account plus interest, which is 8 percent a year for tax titles from November 1, 2024 on and 16 percent a year for older ones, plus allowed charges. You can pay in installments, and if your town has adopted a bylaw or ordinance, you can sign a payment agreement of up to 10 years with at least 10 percent down. While you keep that agreement, the treasurer cannot start a foreclosure case.

   M.G.L. c. 60, §§ 62, 62A

4. Land Court foreclosure case

   12 months after the taking (6 months for older takings)

   The town or the company holding the tax title can ask the Land Court to foreclose your right of redemption 12 months after the taking, or sooner if the property is abandoned or you agree in writing. File an answer by the return date on the court's notice, offer to redeem, and go to the hearing; the court can then set the amount, a deadline and even a payment plan. If you do not answer or appear, you can be defaulted.

   M.G.L. c. 60, § 65

5. Judgment of foreclosure

   The judgment ends your right to redeem and gives full ownership to the town or company. The Land Court can vacate a judgment within one year only in limited cases, and later usually only with the owner's consent or if you never got the notice the law requires.

6. Excess equity: sale or appraisal

   Election within 30 days after the judgment is final

   Within 30 days after the judgment becomes final, the judgment holder must choose to keep or sell the home and tell you by certified mail, along with your rights to excess equity. If it sells, it must list the home with a licensed broker within 180 days, and if it keeps it, it must get an independent appraisal at highest and best use within 120 days. Excess equity is what is left after the tax title balance and the actual costs of selling or appraising.

   M.G.L. c. 60, §§ 1, 64A

7. Getting paid or filing a claim

   Claim within 18 months of the notice; court within 12 months of the accounting

   Within 30 days after the sale or appraisal, the judgment holder must mail you an itemized accounting, and if it knows your address it must pay your share. If it did not have your address, you send a written claim within 18 months of its notice, by certified mail, personal service or at the town collector's office. Disputes about value or amount go to the Superior Court within 12 months of the accounting notice, and money unclaimed after 19 months goes to the state's unclaimed property program.

   M.G.L. c. 60, § 64A

Common questions in Massachusetts