Property owners who have delinquent real estate taxes can now pay online, the Commissioner of State Lands Office announced.
“We’re working to accommodate property owners and modernize the office,” Commissioner Tommy Land said. “As part of that, we’ve begun accepting online payments for delinquent real estate taxes.”
It’s the latest step the COSL office has taken to simplify the process of redeeming tax-delinquent real estate.
“We spent much of 2019 significantly reducing red tape for owners trying to redeem real estate,” Land said. “A major part of that was reducing the paperwork required and expanding the payment options we could accept. We appreciate the Arkansas General Assembly for approving the legislation that cleared the path for this.”
In the past, only the property owner or the owner’s heir could redeem tax-delinquent real estate from the COSL office. Heirs seeking to redeem were required to submit documentation of their claim to the land.
Changes implemented mid-2019 allow anyone to redeem real estate back into the owner’s name. “What we’ve done simply streamlines the redemption process,” Land said. “It does not change the ownership; it just gets the property out of our office and back onto the county’s tax rolls.”
Accepting payments online expands that simplification process.
“Our office will still have some in-house work to do after receiving payment, so this is not instant redemption,” Land said. “But it will be faster and easier. Now taxpayers can redeem property at their convenience, without worrying about mail delivery or office hours.”
The COSL accepts online payments at its website, https://www.cosl.org.
