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Posted by Nikki Verrill, Minot, May 18, 2007: If "Joe" owns 100 acres on April 1, 2007, recieves his tax bill in September 2007, and sells 5 acres in November 2007 and the town received a tax payment from the closing company for the 5 acres that "Suzie" bought but "Joe's" tax bill remains outstanding and the Town needs to file a lien against "Joe" as owner of record, is the lien worded so it doen't include the 5 acres that "Suzie" bought?

Responses: I am by no means an expert but I would file a lien on the whole property in the name of the original owner of record as of 4/1/07. I would reference the map and lot that the original tax bill was made out for. We don't reference acreage in our bills or liens, just map and lot and name of owner.
It is Joe's responsibility to make sure the total amount of tax for that year is paid (i.e. our tax is due in Aug07 and Feb08 but the total tax is a once a year, we just give the option of 2 payments without penalty.) I would say that Joe get a 30 day notice and hopefully he will call to find out what its about. Suzie should get a copy of the lien as a party of interest. You might contact Suzie if it's a small town such as Rangeley
before you file the lien. Hope this helps. (Scott Gesuldi, Rangeley)

Scott.......You are absolutely correct. The partial payment on 5 acres is simply a partial payment on the assessment of 100 acres. If the remaining balance is not paid, a tax lien would be recorded on the 100 acres and would be recorded in the assessed owner's name as of April 1st of the tax year in question.

I have had that similar situation a couple of times over the years whereby a 10 lot subdivision was approved by the planning board and a number of lots were sold. A number of new homes were built and financed by the bank. Meanwhile, the taxes on the whole parcel of land were not paid and I sent out a 30 day lien notice to the original assessed owner a I copied the individual lot owners as well.
I must say that the matter was rectified within a day. (Paul LaBrecque, Lewiston)

The simple answer is no. And in my opinion, a 30 day notice should be mailed via certified mail to both Joe and Suzie. And if both Joe and Suzie have a mortgage on the property, I would mail a copy of the lien to each mortgage holder as well as the new owner (un-assessed owner) via certified mail.

The owner of record on April 1st of each year is responsible for the whole tax bill whether or not a section of the property is sold. The tax lien process should follow the original way the property was assessed.

Your example occurs fairly regularly. Manchester encourages full payment of all outstanding taxes at closings to deal with the scenario you described, but title companies and real estate brokers fight this tooth and nail. (Mark Doyon, Manchester)

NO. (Ryan Pelleter, St. Agatha)