My siblings and I have inherited leases along with several cousins who have inherited leases from my fathers siblings,we just received letters from auditors office saying our shares have been bought from a company called BBRM LLC due to unpaid back taxes,our tax bill for the year was around $90.00 for the royalties we received .My question is if one of our relatives has not paid there tax bill for year does that effect everyone in inheritance from our grandparents,and if so whoever settles there unpaid taxes becomes owner.Please let me know if thus is legit or do we need to get lawyer and who would you recommend, this letter is addressed to all of us.
Hi, Khibbs.
It sounds like the OG interest owned by your and your cousins is still under one tax ticket. IF so, then yes, if that tax ticket/interest is sold for back taxes, it would affect the whole interest/current day owners. For Example, if John Smith owns 1/2 interest in 30A OG, and passes away, and leaves that interest to his three kids, and none of those three kids pay the annual tax bill, and it is lost to delinquency, then all three kids loose their interest. Over the last hundred years or more many have broken their interests out into their own assessments to ensure their interest is protected and not left to chance in the hands of another relative paying it, but just as many have not.
Have someone redeem it to protect everyone’s interest. Then explore setting your interest out in its own assessment if there is not one reliable person to make sure the ticket is paid annually.
This is correct. We just saw an ownership interest that was lost because the deceased mother’s tax ticket wasnt paid off and ALL THE OWNERSHIP was lost. West Virginia is no joke when it comes to paying property taxes.
You definitely need to redeem the interest and then figure out some sort of system to pay off taxes fairly. You may also want to call the County tax office to see if they can separate the tickets.
Many options but they all hinge on not losing the ownership to a tax sale