INDIANAPOLIS— A plan to speed up the tax sale process for vacant and abandoned homes cleared the Indiana Senate on Tuesday.
The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, waives the current one-year redemption period for those properties, meaning sales would be immediate after a tax sale purchase.
“We’re taking steps to prevent abandoned homes from sitting idle for years and hindering community growth. Neighborhoods all across our state struggle with blighted properties – Indiana has one of the highest rates of abandoned foreclosed homes in the country,” Merritt said in a released statement. “Restructuring the way we handle property transactions will enable us to turn these properties around and rebuild communities.”
The Senate passed the proposal, 47-1, and it will now move to the Indiana House for further consideration.
Merritt’s proposal also attempts to reign in speculators by reducing the interest they could gain off purchasing a property at a tax sale from a maximum of 10 percent to 5 percent per annum.
To regain their home, delinquent property taxpayers, in addition to taxes and fees, may also be required to pay interest on any surplus or overbid of their property made at the tax sale. That interest payment is then passed along to the original purchaser at the tax sale.
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