How to Use Tax Lien Manager to Protect Your Investment in Tax Lien Certificates

By Joanne Musa

You probably know that Tax Lien Manager can help you to do your due diligence and help you prepare for the sale, but did you know that it can also help you take the necessary steps to ensure that your investment is profitable?

The first thing that you need to do to ensure that your tax lien is profitable is to record your tax lien certificate with the County. Your tax lien certificate must be recorded in the county records, or it is worthless. In some states this is done for you and you pay a recording fee when you purchase your lien. In most states, including New Jersey, this is something that you will be responsible for and I suggest that you do it right away, as soon as you receive the tax lien certificate. With Tax Lien Manager you can print out a letter to send to the county clerk with your tax lien certificate(s). In the Lien Menu, select Current Liens and click on the Payments tab and the County Filing Letter button. You can use the drop down menus to include all of your tax liens for that county. You can keep track of the filing fees that you pay and print out affidavits to the tax collectors. You even have two different affidavit letters to choose from. Tax Lien Manager will even print the envelopes for you.

The next thing that you want to do to maximize your profit in a tax lien certificate is to pay the subsequent taxes on time. Tax Lien Manager can help you do this by letting you know when you can pay quarterly taxes. You’ll see the reminders for quarterly taxes on the calendar. Tax Lien Manager also provides you with a letter to the tax collector requesting the amount of subsequent taxes due. You can print this letter and either mail it or fax it to the tax collector. When you mail in your payment for subsequent taxes, include an affidavit printed out from Tax Lien Manager with your payment. All of these tasks can be done from the Payments Tab in the lien property information screen of Tax Lien Manager. You can even print the envelop using the Tax Collector-Envelopes button on this screen.

The third step in maximizing your profit is keeping track of when the redemption period is over for your tax lien(s). Tax Lien Manager will tell you when the redemption period is over for each of your liens. You’ll see the reminders on the calendar. Then you can decide if you want to continue to pay subsequent taxes and hold the lien longer, start the foreclosure process, or sell your lien to another investor.

With Tax Lien Manager you can print a request for a title search and mail or fax it to your title company. Just put the contact information for your title company into Tax Lien Manager by clicking on the Title Search Company button in the Table Maintenance Menu. Your request for a title search will then be atomically populated with your information and your title company’s information. You can even choose between several title search companies. You can also print a pre-foreclosure letter with Tax Lien Manager. If you decide to assign your lien to another investor or if your lien redeems, Tax Lien Manager can tell you the redemption amount of your lien. You can use this to set a price for your lien or to compare with the redemption amount that the tax collector gives you.

All of these tasks are done from the Acquisition/Redemption/Foreclosure tab in the Lien Property Information Screen. To access this screen from the Main Menu click on Liens and from the Lien Menu choose which group of liens you want to look at. Then you can choose individual liens in that group. Put your cursor on the lien that you want to change or view and click on the Change or View button. Now you are in the Lien Property Information Screen. The Acquisition/Redemption/Foreclosure tab lets you track redemptions, title searches and the foreclosure process. You can track bankruptcies and DEP issues with the with the Bankruptcy/DEP Issue tab.



Joanne Musa works with investors who want to reap the rewards of tax lien and tax deed investing. She is the author of the Tax Lien Lady’s E-books, Tax Lien Investing Secrets and Tax Lien Lady’s State Guide to Tax Lien and Tax Deed Investing. For more about tax lien investing e-mail MoreTips@taxlienconsulting.com. For more information about Tax Lien Managerä, go to http://www.njtaxliensoftware.com.

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