All third party purchasers who plan on buying more than 3 certificates of delinquency in any county, 5 certificates of delinquency statewide or investing more than $10,000 in certificates of delinquency must register with the Department of Revenue. An application is available on the Department’s website – http://revenue.ky.gov/property+tax. You will see a section devoted solely to third party purchasers and this is where you will find the link to download an application.
All third party purchasers wishing to participate in a particular county’s tax sale must complete a registration form and submit it along with all required fees and deposits to the county clerk’s office by the advertised deadline. The purchase thresholds in effect for registration with the Department of Revenue do not apply when registering with the county clerk. Therefore, even if you only want to purchase one or two certificates, you must timely register with the county clerk’s office. The following items need to be submitted to the county clerk’s office by the deadline established: 1) The registration form that is used by the county clerk; 2) Copy of the registration certificate issued by the Department of Revenue (if necessary); 3) A list of priority certificates of delinquency you intend to acquire; 4) A list of current year certificates of delinquency you intend to acquire; 5) The applicable registration fees; and 6) All applicable deposit amounts.
A registration fee up to a yearly maximum of $250.00 must be paid by a third party purchaser no matter when a certificate of delinquency is acquired during the year. If a prior year certificate of delinquency is purchased before the current year’s tax sale, a registration fee of $10.00 per bill will be added to the total due. For certificates of delinquency purchased at the tax sale, a fee of $5.00 for each certificate of delinquency included on the priority list and $10.00 for each certificate of delinquency included on the purchaser’s current year list will be required. Whenever the $250.00 maximum has been reached, no further registration fees will be charged until the next calendar year. After the tax sale in a county has been completed, any remaining certificates of delinquency may be purchased at any time by any third party. If the $250.00 maximum has not been met, a registration fee of $10.00 per bill will be imposed until the limit is reached.
After allocating the certificates of delinquency for which third party purchaser’s had a priority claim, the remaining certificates will be sold in a predetermined lot size. The selection order is determined by a random drawing at the beginning of the tax sale and this order is followed in each round. If a registered purchaser is not present for the random drawing but shows up late, he or she will be placed at the bottom of the selection list.
