Harry Potter and those Twilight vampires need to move over and make room for a new literary superhero.  The mighty local government tax collector returns to the best seller lists this week after a fourteen-year absence with the release of … Continued

As the economy continues to drag, more and more local governments are relying on foreclosures to improve their tax collections.  I’ve blogged previously about the foreclosure process here and here.  Today’s post responds to a couple of interesting questions attorneys and … Continued

Building on this earlier post, here are a few more myths about tax foreclosures that deserve debunking.  (This time I promise to avoid bragging on Duke basketball.)  But first allow me to plug two resources that might be of interest to … Continued

The Machinery Act describes the in rem tax foreclosure procedure in NCGS 105-375 as a “simple and inexpensive” alternative to the full-blown civil action required by the “mortgage-style” foreclosure procedure in NCGS 105-374.  That description might be overly optimistic in … Continued

Following the 2010 session of the North Carolina General Assembly, local governments will see an essentially unchanged statutory landscape for community and economic development. Some of the highlights are discussed below.

[2011 UPDATE: For more detail on this topic, see the following 2011 book: Housing Codes for Repair and Maintenance: Using the General Police Power and Minimum Housing Statutes to Prevent Dwelling Deterioration] An earlier post on minimum housing ordinances (MHOs) … Continued

Assume you are a county attorney who gets a call from the tax collector asking your advice on whether the tax office should start foreclosure proceedings on Parcel A.  The property is valued at $25,000 and the county holds a tax lien … Continued

An interesting discussion from the Local Government Law listserv last week: Do tax foreclosures extinguish easements?  The answer must be no, don’t you think? If public utility and transportation easements could be extinguished by tax foreclosures, then the authority of … Continued