Jun 18, 2015 2 min read

Washington County was concentrating its upgrades of Cross Creek County Park on the West Middletown side known as Thompson Hill.

So, with a piece of property adjacent to the park entrance scheduled to be sold next week by the county Tax Claim Bureau, the county is considering buying it, demolishing the house and enlarging access from Route 844.

“We’re looking at it,” Commissioner Harlan Shober said Thursday. “We want to make the entrance to the park as safe as possible. The bottom line is, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

Shober wasn’t talking about the condition of the house. He meant the sort of liens or encumbrances that can’t be removed when the Tax Claim Bureau auctions off property at what’s known as a “judicial sale.”

With a court order, the bureau can wipe away all county and municipal tax liens filed for nonpayment, so a judicial sale is commonly called a “free-and-clear sale.”

But that’s only “free and clear” to a point. Potential buyers should be aware that state and federal tax liens placed against the properties are not wiped away at sales the county conducts. On this particular parcel, current Avella Area school taxes must be satisfied, and a prospective buyer can determine what’s owed by searching public records.

It usually takes about three years for unpaid taxes and liens to accumulate on a property before it becomes a candidate for a “free-and-clear” sale. Before properties are auctioned at a judicial sale, they’ve gone through what’s known as an “upset sale” due to unpaid taxes. The Tax Claim Bureau website for the 9 a.m. Tuesday sale lists the owners of the East Main Street, West Middletown, property as Carolyn Griffith and Richard V. Brown. All sales are conducted in the public meeting room of the Courthouse Square office building.

Scott Fergus, Washington County director of administration, said if someone wants to buy the property and return it to the tax rolls, the county will not bid against a prospective buyer.