Tax Sale
The following notes are intended to provide a general outline of the tax sale process. For complete information, prospective purchasers should consult the Local Government Act, in particular (but not limited to) Sections 403 to 428.
Selling a Property
- The City is required by the Local Government Act to sell at Tax Sale all properties whose taxes have not been paid for three years
- The Local Government Act gives the Collector authority to sell a property for the Upset Price which equals all outstanding taxes + penalties + interest + 5% tax sale costs + Land Title Office fees
- All property sales are "as is" without warrantee or guarantee by the City of Burnaby
Advertising
- The Local Government Act, Section 405, requires municipalities to advertise in a local paper not less than three, or more than ten days prior to the Tax Sale
- The legal description and street address must be published
- To avoid your property being listed in this ad in the newspaper, your delinquent taxes must be paid approximately three weeks prior to the Tax Sale date
- Tax Sale Ad
Disclaimer: If delinquent taxes are paid on any of these properties, they will not be available at the tax sale.
Current year's tax sale ad will be available mid - end of September each year per the Local Government Act.
Tax Sale
- A public auction will be held at 10:00 AM, on the last Monday in September each year in Council Chambers, Burnaby City Hall
- Bidding is accepted on all properties
- Prospective bidders are advised that it is their responsibility to search the title of the property in advance to determine if there are any charges registered against the property
- The minimum bid is the amount of the Upset Price
- If no bidding takes place within three calls by the Collector (auctioneer), the City is declared the purchaser at the Upset Price
- Tax Sale Preamble
Current year's tax sale preamble will be available at the end of September each year
Purchasing Property
- The successful bidder is required to have their SIN or BN number, your corporate seal if required
- Payment is to be in the form of cash and the sum bid must be paid immediately
- Cash means: Legal tender (paper currency), certified cheque, bank draft, and money order. NOTE: Personal cheque is not accepted as a form of payment
- If full payment is not received immediately, the Collector will again offer the property for auction again
Notifying Registered Owners and Charge Holders
- The Collector is required by law to search all property titles and within 90 days after Tax Sale to notify all registered owners and charge holders shown on each property
Redemption
- The original owner has one year after the property is sold at Tax Sale to pay the taxes and buy back their property. This is called redemption
- All registered charge holders have full right to redeem the property
- To redeem the property, the charge holder must remit the full upset price, plus interest on the purchase price at a rate set by the Province, within one year of the Tax Sale
- As soon as the property is redeemed, the Collector will refund to the Tax Sale purchaser the purchase price, plus interest to the date of redemption
Property Not Redeemed
- If the property is not redeemed during the one year period, the Collector registers the new owner at the Land Titles Office in Victoria, thus cancelling all previous registered charges, except for those matters set out in Section 276(1) (c) to (g) of the Land Title Act and any lien of the Crown, an improvement district or a local district
- The new owners are required to pay the property sales tax to the Provincial Sales Tax Administrator after application has been made to register in the Land Titles Office
