Arizona Court of Appeals Rules Property Tax Lienholder Cannot Foreclose Superior State Lien

The Arizona Court of Appeals vacated a trial court’s order foreclosing the state’s superior judgment lien if it did not redeem a tax lien certificate held by a tax lien purchaser within 30 days. The tax lien purchaser initiated foreclosure proceedings, acknowledging the state’s prior judgment lien on the same property. The trial court ruled in favor of the tax lien purchaser, and while acknowledging that the state held a superior lien, ordered that the state nevertheless had 30 days to redeem the tax certificate and directed that, if the state failed to redeem the tax certificate in that timeframe, ...