Grandma forgot to pay property taxes, now has 72 hours to vacate. Can anything be done?

May the Good Lord intervene in your situation and bring solutions that will benefit you both. You and grandma will be in my prayers. No one is at fault here. Please don't blame yourself.

Call everyone again tomorrow morning (Monday) but be ready to leave with the necessary things. You could call the local news channel to be there during the eviction. Law enforcement doesn't want to have a negative story about throwing an old, demented lady into the street for forgetting to pay her property taxes. Try not leaving. Maybe you can "call their bluff" and they will not physically remove you (just yet). Maybe you can get an emergency stay from the mayor.

Please keep in touch with the board. We really care about your situation.

My heart is heavy for you. You will surely be blessed for looking out for your grandma.

Good luck, Tuan! Keep us posted on how you're making out.

We /currently/ only have $400 between us because we just paid bills. We both get paid around the first, bills are paid by the 10th. We've never had issues keeping up with them. Everything has always been paid on time.. that's why I never questioned her when she said property tax had been paid.

I really appreciate all the information and advice everyone. I called everyone I could today, including the sheriff's office, nobody would answer. I left messages everywhere I could and have been hoping for a callback.

I have now found a family member that she can stay with, at this point im just hoping to buy a bit more time so I can try to get her to go through a lot of her things and decide what she wants to keep. She's been in this house for well over 50 years so she's accumulated a lot of.. stuff (a nice treat for whoever gets the house I guess).

She says she doesn't have enough room for me, and that's alright. I'm just extremely relieved that i found my Grandma a place.

Again, I truly appreciate everyone's help and advice through this. It really means the world. I wish I'd found this place earlier.

Tuan, this might be a blessing in disguise, as since you and your Grandmother only have $400 between you, then Grandmother wouldn't be able to pay for her home insurance, utilities, groceries, etc. and here it is half way through the month.  It is time to move into something more affordable [senior apartment], and not worry about real estate taxes, etc. 

It's not unusual for an elder, especially someone with memory issues, to forget to pay real estate taxes as that bill usually shows up either once a year or twice a year. My elderly Dad did that... oops.

All the recommendations above were excellent. Best wishes to you and your Grandmother and hopefully everything works out for the best.

If the land has been auctioned, there is already a new owner who is closing and wants to take possession. I suspect there has been several notices in the mail that were ignored along the way. I think the best use of time would be to find a place to stay for both of them. Dealing with the legalities of staying the eviction may be very difficult at this time and I doubt they could afford to hire legal help.

Tuan, you need to talk to your county human services about finding a place for your grandmother. They may want to assume guardianship of her for the state, which would be a good thing. If they did that, then you would be free to decide what you need to do for yourself. Do you have a job? Talk to the people at the county about what opportunities are available for you. Good luck! I hope this turns out to be a good thing for you, instead of a bad thing.

That's landlord-tenant. Sounds like this gal is owner-occupied (w/Granny as owner) and they are sliding into tax forfeiture.

That being said, I live in a state where any "flavor" of eviction can be stalled several times by the evictee. Hopefully the OP lives in a state with similar loopholes.

Tuan - I just read this information in an online article and maybe it will help you. It indicates that the 72-hour notice is only a notice that if you don't leave within that time, eviction proceedings will commence. I don't know if the rule is the same everywhere.
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Notice to Quit
With the trustee's deed in hand, the new owner may exercise his rights as property owner. His first step is to issue a three-day notice to quit the property. However, the landlord cannot change the locks, remove your property or intimidate you to leave the house during this time. The three-day notice serves as your official notice he intends to evict you from the property.
Eviction
After the three days pass, the landlord may file an unlawful detainer lawsuit with the court. You are served with the lawsuit. You receive five days from the day you are served to file a response in court. The county clerk's office schedules a trial within 20 days. At the trial, the judge orders your eviction from the property. You get five days to vacate the premises before the sheriff's department changes the locks on the property.

Leaseback
In some cases, you might be able to lease back your former property. Your lender places the first bid on the property for the balance owed plus fees. When no one else bids, the lender gets the property to sell at its convenience. Some lenders offer leaseback programs by which the former owner may rent the property until it sells on the market. Ask your prior lender if he is interested in leasing back the property until it sells.
Considerations
Obtain the name of the new homeowner from the trustee's office. Do not accept any paperwork at face value. Verify the person you are speaking with is authorized to make deals on behalf of the new owner. Thirty to 45 days is a long time for a new homeowner waiting access to the property. Some property owners offer a cash-for-keys deal to pay you to gracefully exit the property without the need for eviction. Ensure you get enough funds to cover the security deposit and first month's rent on a rental unit.
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Dear Tuan831
Please keep us informed when you can. We care about what happens to you and your grandmother.
Hugs

My Dad left before I was born. My mom is in a care center with schizophrenia. We live in Oklahoma. We don't have a car. She has a son that lives out of state, no idea how to contact him. She has a couple other daughters, but I have no idea how to contact one and the other one is very slimy and has taken advantage of her in the past so I'm afraid to even call her.

I haven't slept. I spent the night packing my things while she slept, today I'm trying to help her pack hers.. but she's confident that she's staying here. She showed me another letter about an hour ago that says the house was auctioned off on the 14th. Yet she can't understand that the house is gone.

I'm calling the sheriff and everyone I can today. I never expected her to let us stay, was just hoping maybe she would extend our time or something considering the circumstances.

Thank you for the advice everyone, putting it all to use today.

Agree with KatieKate here. Be prepared. Pack your clothes, grandma's meds, toiletries, pet supplies if applicable, any important papers such as POA, grandma's will, your passports and birth certificates. Have it ready to take with you. If you have a car, load up the trunk.

Also, isn't there anyone in the middle generation who could help out financially or with housing. Where are your parents, your aunts and uncles, grandma's siblings, your siblings? Isn't there any other family who could help?

I would prepare to be physically removed.
Pack your basic needs and clothing.

When the sheriff comes to evict...he will proceed to put you both in the street right then and there. He will not be waiting around for you to pack

Once physically removed...the locks are changed and the place posted. If you attempt to re-enter it is Breaking and Entering and you can be arrested. So..be prepared so you are not on the street without anything.

I have seen this done. Do not think the sheriff will just let you stay. I have seen back up brought in and literally removed bodily the people inside.

Get prepared. Do not have your head in the sand...this is how this happened to start with. You will be far better off if you organize whatever you need...now.

Great idea from Jeanne. Start by calling Adult Protective Services. Get a letter from her doctor stating the diagnosis of dementia. Many people with dementia, the first thing they do is forget to pay their bills.

Do not vacate! As long as grandma maintains possession it is a more difficult battle. Call sheriff today tell them grandma has dementia and you have nowhere to take her. Then Monday call the assessor explain the situation. If they are difficult to deal with, call a news channel. See if you can find home or direct phone numbers for your county commissioners. Find their email addresses, they are often on the County website. They all probably have county funded smart phones where they would see your email today. Document, document, document!

Call Legal Aid for free or reduced cost lawyer. Email the bar association for help.
Start by writing a Word document so everyone gets the same information. Be explicit and clear, try to leave the emotion out of it.

DO NOT VACATE!

Look up your local legal aid or legal services office and get there ASAP. Somebody needs to file for an emergency stay of this eviction, if that is legally possible.

The county (city, or whatever taxing authority) does not take the house immediately. The first step is to auction off the tax authority. This is a tax lien certificate. Basically, they sell the right to collect those taxes to the highest bidder. This way the county (city or whatever) can continue to function with the money paid.

In most places it is 2-3 years before the failure to pay the tax lien certificate then allows the lien holder to auction the property itself to receive the payment.

The eviction is not coming from the county (city or whatever) it is the result of the actions of the lien holder. In many cases this is a large corporation holding realestate.

There is no means to stop the eviction.

Call the local Salvation Army..they can provide emergency housing. Call the local church...many times they have resources. If there is an emergency hot line for elder service (council on aging, etc.) call them too.

The reason those tax lien certificates are soooo attractive to investors...if they never get paid by the property owner...they get to take the property FREE OF ALL ENCUMBRANCES!   Yes...not even the first mortgage can hold the property for payment.   The high bidder gets it...the bank that holds the mortgage losing the right to secure the debt with the property.    This can we a major good deal.   Once again, leaving the property owner homeless and still owing that huge mortgage!    

You and granny have only $400 between you. Is there any way she can pay the back taxes, if it were set up on some kind of payment plan?

Many areas have discounts on property taxes for seniors and/or disabled folks. Of course, that should have been applied for long ago, but perhaps, given the dementia situation, they could be applied retroactively?

I wonder if calling Adult Protection Services and explaining the situation might be helpful? Granny certainly is a vulnerable adult and the prospect of her being thrown to the curb, so to speak, ought to interest them.

Where are you located?

I think that if you can't get hold of any sort of emergency help from the county over the weekend, I would invite the Sherrif in for tea with granny and ask him/her what they're going to do with granny.

Well, typically sheriffs represent the county, so sounds like calling the sheriffs office for more information and/or the county office regarding this matter may be helpful. Every situation is different, but the more facts you have will help you, i.e. documents, deadlines, extensions. There may be more to the story, and the only way to find out is to ask more questions to the office that deal with this situation a lot, likely.