March 14, 2009

Do not be alarmed if you recently purchased tax liens from one or more of the Arizona County Treasurer’s back tax auctions and you did not receive a physical certificate of purchase. Arizona law allows county treasurers to adopt a “registered certificate” system. Under this system, they no longer issue paper certificates of purchase. Instead, they periodically send out a portfolio statement that indicates the certificate of purchase number, tax parcel number, date of purchase, interest rate, and amount paid, as well as the name of the bidder, and bidder number, if one is used.


An earlier-passed statute provides that the certificate of purchase or its certified copy is prima facie evidence of the correct performance and regularity of all acts pertaining to the tax lien sale and the validity and enforceability of the tax lien. This statute has meant that most tax foreclosures required a copy of the certificate be produced, either as an exhibit to the Complaint or as evidence presented to the judge before a foreclosure judgment was entered. With the new registered certificate system, this practice has given way to simply an avowal to the court that the certificate has been issued by the Treasurer, is a registered certificate, and has not been redeemed.

A.R.S. § 42-18118 , A.R.S. § 42-18119 .