Tax delinquent list not a option in washington?

Buying Strategies
1

I just contacted three counties in Washington today when I got home from work. I met a similar road block on all three. None of them would offer a complete list, one offered a complete tax roll, another one offered just parcel numbers of delinquent properties. They all told me I needed to submit a formal request for information though the appropriate agency. I did it just to see what it would cost and what kind of information I was going to get. They actually replied very quickly and with this;

''Upon review, it appears that your request may be seeking a list of individuals to be used for a commercial purpose. The Public Records Act (PRA) at RCW 42.56.070(8) states:

This chapter shall not be construed as giving authority to any agency . . . to give, sell or provide access to lists of individuals requested for commercial purposes, and agencies . . . shall not do so unless specifically authorized or directed by law.

A requester seeking a list of individuals must provide information to establish the purpose of the request, the identity of the requester, the nature of the records requested, and other information necessary to determine if disclosure is authorized under RCW 42.56.070(8).‘’

It went on to say I would need to contact the district attorney to plead my case. Has anyone had any luck in Washington with getting a delinquent tax list?

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@mintproperties I’ve heard this several times about Washington over the years. There’s been a lot of discussion about what constitutes a “commercial” purpose since we’re not selling anything to these people. Somes states define this very clearly, and others don’t

I don’t recall any specific examples, but I’m pretty sure I’ve heard from people who have been able to get it in WA, but I’m not sure exactly what they did to do it (I haven’t done it myself, so I can’t speak to it from experience).

Whatever the case, if you keep hitting roadblocks like this, I would just move on to a different state that makes the process easier, or just don’t worry about the delinquent tax list at all.

The delinquent tax list is one effective way to find deals, but it’s not the only way to get the job done… and many other states will make it much easier than this.

This kind of thing (understandably) can lead to early burnout because you’ll end up banging your head against the wall trying to do something that meets constant resistance. The average person can only handle so many dead ends, so I wouldn’t spend too much time here if you’re finding that your current approach isn’t working.