If the original delinquent owner somehow gets their act together and is able to pay things back to retain the property, they have to pay back EVERTHING including what went to the county.
The successful bidder gets ALL of their money back, plus interest.
I think I'm following but I'm just a little unclear on one thing: the money from the winning bid that the investor paid to the county.
For example. A house has 10k in back taxes and gets put up by the county for tax auction. The investor goes to the auction and wins the house for 50k. He writes a check to the county for 60k (cost of the house and the taxes owed). The county pays the 10k in taxes and holds the 50k.
During the redemption period, the original homeowner gets their act together and comes along. They write a check to the investor for...lets say 70k. That covers the bid, taxes, and interest.
Now the owner has their house back and the investor got their money back plus interest. My question is what happens to the 50k that the county was holding over the taxes? Do they keep that? Was it part of the check the owner wrote the investor? (Meaning the check the owner wrote was really only 20k out of pocket...taxes and interest - the bid) Or does the investor get the 70k from the owner + the 50k bid they won the auction with...for a total of 120k.
I'm probably making this harder than it is but I haven't been a part of one of these before. Thanks for bearing with me!