If you or someone you love is behind on property taxes, these are the questions we get asked most. Plain answers from Prairie Street Consulting, LLC in Hendersonville, Tennessee. This is general information, not legal advice — every county runs a little differently.
The county files a lawsuit to collect the delinquent taxes, and if they stay unpaid the property is sold at a tax sale. That sale is not the end. Tennessee gives the owner a redemption period afterward to pay what's owed and keep the property. Most families we meet don't know that window exists until it's almost closed.
The redemption period is the time after a tax sale during which the owner (or heirs, or a lienholder) can pay the sale price plus interest and costs and get the property back. In Tennessee it is generally up to one year from the court order confirming the sale, and the court can shorten it in some cases — for example when the property has been vacant or abandoned. The exact deadline is set by the court in your county. We help you find that date and make a plan before it arrives.
We find out exactly where you stand: what's owed, who holds the lien or bought the property at sale, what the redemption deadline is, and what it will take to redeem. Then we build a plan — payment options, hardship programs, family resources, nonprofit and legal-aid referrals when they fit — and we stay with you until the property is redeemed or the plan is complete. We speak to the trustee's office and the clerk and master so you don't have to figure out the language alone.
No. We are not buying your house and we are not bidding on your lien. Our job is to help you keep it. If someone contacts you after a tax sale offering to "help" by taking the deed, call us first.
It starts with a consultation. After that, our fee is a success fee of 10–15% of the amount we help you resolve, so our interest and yours point the same direction. We'll put the number in writing before any work starts. If we can't help, we say so at the consultation and you owe nothing further.
Heir property is one of the most common ways Black and working-class families lose homes. If a parent or grandparent passed and the taxes fell behind, you may still have the right to redeem even if the deed isn't in your name yet. Bring what you have — the death certificate, any will, the tax notices — and we'll help you sort out who can act and what to do first.
Our first commitment is to families who want to stay in their homes. We do help ethical investors understand redemption rules across all 50 states through our free Tax Sale Navigator, and we work with nonprofits and counties that want to reach owners before the deadline. We will not help anyone take a home from a family that's trying to keep it.
Free tool: our Tax Sale Navigator estimates your redemption deadline by state and sale date.
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