Delinquent Taxes and Cold Checks
Delinquent Taxes
Along with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Department and Rowan County Clerk’s office, the County Attorney’s office works to enforce and collect delinquent property taxes, including assessments on real property, tangible (personal property), and public service commission tax bills.
Tax bills are initially distributed at the beginning of November by the Sheriff’s Department. Taxpayers have until April 15th before the tax bill becomes delinquent. A 2% discount is given for any bills paid before November 30th. The face amount of the bill is due by December 31st and a 5% penalty is added until January 31st. Any bill paid between February 1st and April 15th has a 21% penalty added. Then on April 15th unpaid bills become delinquent and are sent to the County Clerk’s office.
Once a bill becomes delinquent there are additional penalties added. Taxpayers with unpaid bills will then receive two notices sent by the County Attorney’s Office. A 30-day notice that is mailed out on May 15th and a 60-day notice which is mailed out on June 15th. A sale date is scheduled, and all unpaid tax bills will have the possibility of being sold. The sale is normally the second week of August. Third party investors will have the opportunity to purchase any bill being sold. Once purchased, the investor may add additional fees to the bill.
From the time a bill becomes delinquent until THREE DAYS before the sale the taxpayer whose name is on the property can complete a delinquent tax contract with the County Attorney’s Office. At the time of signing the contract the taxpayer MUST be able to pay 10% of the bill that day. Then the remaining bill will be divided into monthly payments. If an agreement is entered into prior to the Clerk’s sale the bills are not subject to be purchased by investors.
At the beginning of each month the delinquent tax bill will increase by 1% until paid.
The County Attorney is also responsible for asserting tax claims in all foreclosures filed in the courts and actively litigates the case to ensure the tax claim receives its priority status.
Cold Checks
When presenting the check to our office it must have been processed through the bank and returned. Only checks that the account is closed, no account, unable to locate or nonsufficient funds can be prosecuted.
Once a check is presented to this office for collection, we will attempt to contact the check writer by mail. The 10-day letter states that if the face value of the check and fees are not paid within the designated timeframe, criminal prosecution will begin.
Attached at the bottom of the letter is a deposit slip for the person to directly deposit the funds into a cold check account. Once the payment has cleared the bank then our office will contact you and provide you with the appropriate funds.
If the person fails to pay within the time frame, then you will need to come into the office to sign a complaint. The complaint is reviewed by the County Attorney and signed. The complaint is then presented to the Judge requesting either a warrant or summons. After it is reviewed and approved by the Judge, it will be active to be served by law enforcement.