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Only your attorney can give you an opinion to the question, “Who is legally responsible for paying county taxes in the year a property is sold?”
As you see Kentucky statutes appear to say that the owner of the property on the assessment date, January 1st, may be responsible for the taxes. “All persons in whose name property is properly assessed shall remain bound for the tax, notwithstanding they may have sold or parted with it.” – KY 132.220(1)(b)4.
I can’t believe anyone would tell you to ignore a summons to a lawsuit, particularly an attorney. I think you are on the right track when you say, “(I) am seeking another opinion from a second well respected real estate law firm.” This is exactly what I would advise. Your instincts are correct to not ignore a lawsuit in case of a default judgement.
Even if the attorney giving the second opinion says you won’t be responsible you need to respond to the complaint. That may be as simple as filing a motion. A competent attorney will tell you how you should respond. In the meantime I do have some non-legal advice…stay calm. Being sued elicits an emotional response and can be very upsetting. But as long as you do not ignore the suit, justice will probably prevail.
So stop looking up statutes and rely on a competent attorney and this will probably turn out to be nothing more than one of life’s little annoyances…if you can call being sued a little annoyance.
Good luck!
I sold my home in July 2002. My settlement statement demonstrates that I funded the buyers escrow account with 10 mos of prorated taxes. The deed states “and further 2002 state and county and city taxes and all subsequent taxes, which the party of the second part assumes and hereby agrees to pay”. The buyer is second party in this context.
In 2008, the property was transferred by warranty deed, and again by quit claim in 2009.
As it turns out, the 2002 property tax bill was never paid. The county clerk sold a certificate of delinquency (in July 2003) to a third party who has now filed a lawsuit to collect (Statute of limitations ends in 2013 for this – I sold this home 10.5 yrs ago). I (the seller and first defendant on the complaint) was never notified of the tax delinquency or certificate sale until now.
My selling agent, along with another personal good friend who is a licensed agent both are adamant I am not responsible/liable for this. The closing attorney who handled the 2002 transfer tells me the same, and that I have no need to respond to the complaint. I’m uneasy given the complaint is seeking a judgement against me and am seeking another opinion from a second well respected real estate law firm. The language in KRS 134 states the owner of record on Jan 1 is responsible, and I’ve been unable to locate other sections that might add to or elaborate. I’m struggling to discern what was law in 2002/03 vs now. Any KY county web site with a FAQ regarding the transfer of property states the buyer is normally responsible to pay the end of year tax bill, but this seems in conflict with KRS 134.
Can anyone point me to additional legislation that I’m not finding? Would anyone else seriously consider advise to simply ignore this complaint? Every part of me is screaming to fight, I just can’t yet determine how. I have 17 days left to respond to the complaint, or risk a default judgement.
I simply sold my house, used a realtor, did not take any shortcuts, and ended up in this mess. Also, how could the property have transferred in 2008 and again in 2009 w/out this issue being force to surface?
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