We have received several phone calls recently regarding how to use the Query Data Access tab in Collect and wanted to send out a short blog post with some quick tips.
The Query Data Access tab allows you to create a record set of invoices or receipts meeting specific user-defined criteria, and allows you to search for invoices that share common attributes. With enough planning and thought any record set can be created based on the parameters you enter. Continue reading
The customer sitting in front of you recently lost their spouse. That information might send you right into panic mode where you find your brain is completely blank. Take a couple breaths. We have been in your clerk shoes and understand the stress of survivorship transactions, for all parties involved. This blog post is to get you a little more prepared for when this situation sneaks up on you.
We get many calls regarding processing survivorship titles and registrations: New, Renewal, and Transfer. There are many ways a Survivorship Title/Registration can be processed. You need to be sure you gather enough information, in order to begin using the correct process.
First: Does your customer qualify for a Survivorship Transfer? The Requirements to qualify for Survivorship Title/Registration (per page 42 of the State of NH, Procedure Manual for Municipal Agents a/k/a MA Manual, latest edition 2019), are as follows:
Second: Some investigation of the current/registration title is required:
Third: It is now time to figure out where to start… Follow the link below to view a few of the procedural beginning points:
There are many variables to Survivorship titles/registrations, if you do not see a clear place to start (in the link provided above), please give us a call.
Lastly, an important note: As of the date of this blog post, you can only process the town portion of a Lease Transfer Survivorship registration. Your customer will need to complete the State portion of the registration at the State level. To begin the process:
For more information on Survivorship Transfers, and step-by-step instructions, please see our online documentation: Survivorship Registrations.
We are pleased to announce a new add-on feature for the Assessing Internet Kiosk which gives your municipality the ability to upload PDF copies of individual assessment cards to the Assessing Internet Kiosk for online users to print and/or download actual assessment cards in PDF format. Keep reading for more details on the features and requirements for implementation.
Continue readingDog Licensing season is currently upon us, and the dreaded Civil Forfeiture process for all dog owners who have failed to renew/license their dog(s) for the year is right around the corner. Let’s get prepared.
Continue readingThe Avitar Tax Collect Internet Kiosk allows you to easily make invoice and transaction records available on the Internet for taxpayers, mortgagees, banks, and title companies to view and pay at any time of day without having to contact you. Therefore, you should get in the habit of regularly (or, at the very least, periodically) updating your Tax Kiosk data online.
To update your tax information online:
Please note that changes you upload are not immediately visible online. Previously, our updater ran every two hours, but the number of municipalities now using the service, as well as the number of services that need to run for each municipality (e.g., update invoices, import PDFs, email paperless recipients, etc.), prevents us from running the update process as frequently. Even though the message that displays on your screen after updating still indicates that changes will be reflected online in two hours, the Tax Kiosk online update process now runs nightly between 8:00PM and 2:00AM.
Important: Keep this schedule in mind after you have executed your lien, as the absolute earliest the new 20xxL01 will show online will be after 8:00PM, and until that time, the old 20xxP01s and 20xxP02s will still show. Therefore, if you have turned off the ability for taxpayers to pay invoices online, you will want to turn on the ability to pay invoices online the DAY AFTER you have executed your lien.
We have scheduled an online workshop for all our new clerks. This session is open to new clerks, whether you are new to the position, new to the Avitar Clerk system, or just need a refresher.
Continue readingWe have scheduled an online workshop for all our new tax collectors. We will cover topics such as paying invoices, creating prepayments, making corrections, liening, deeding, the billing process and balancing. This session is open to new collectors, whether you are new to the position, new to the Avitar Collect system, or just need a refresher.
Continue readingWe have been working incredibly hard to update and streamline the Avitar online documentation. We’ve been adding step-by-step instructions for most processes to compliment the explainers that were there already. For example, on the Lien Notice topic, there is a link to the RSA, there is a section you can expand for “Understanding The Process”, and there is a step-by-step set of guidelines you can expand for “Show Me How To Do It.” It’s a really nice improvement and we recommend you take a look at it whenever you need a little assist.
To access through the program:
We also added an FAQs button on the toolbar, which gives you easy access to the most frequently asked questions. To access this functionality, simply click this FAQs button to view the list in your internet browser.
Please take a moment to review these, as well as other Frequently Asked Questions… and check back often as we are updating periodically.
With February just a few weeks away, we thought it would be beneficial to write a blog post regarding the upcoming Notice of Arrearage (Delinquent Notice), Liening, and Deeding processes. Specifically, the requirements and dates for each of the processes, in order for you to meet the required RSA deadlines.
Before you begin any of these processes, you will need to obtain the latest version of the Tax Lien Procedure Schedule of Fees and Costs from the NH Tax Collector’s website. Several of the processes require fees to be added to an owner’s unpaid invoice, and you will need to know the breakdown of each fee. Another helpful document for deciding when to do each process is the Outline of Duties published by the NH Tax Collectors’ Association.
Below is a brief description of each process as well as the RSAs that govern said process. For details on how to complete the steps in Avitar Tax Collect, select the link provided in each of the processes.
Notice of Arrearage (RSA 76:11-b): In Avitar Tax Collect, this is called the Delinquent Tax Notice and by law, must be mailed within 90 days of the final bill due date. This notice is sent by regular mail and should include all unpaid receivables (yield, current use, gravel, timber, property, liens, water, sewer, betterment). Follow the link for more information on how to generate Delinquent Notices.
Lien Notice (RSA 80:59 and 80:60): A lien notice must be sent certified mail to every owner who has not paid their prior year taxes in full. This notice must be sent at least 30 days prior to the execution of the lien. Keep in mind that the lien must be executed by September 30th each year, so the last day to mail a lien notice would be August 30th. Follow the link for more information on how to generate Lien Notices.
Execute Lien (RSA 80:61, 80:63, 80:64): Prior to the execution of the lien, a lien notice is sent to the owner and the notice must indicate the date by which the owner has to pay his outstanding invoices to avoid liening. On the execution day, or the next day, you will execute the liens for taxpayers who did not pay their outstanding invoices in full. Follow the link for more information on how to Execute a Lien.
Deed Notice (RSA 80:77 and 80:77-a): At least 30 days prior to the execution of a deed, a notice must be sent to each property owner and any mortgagee informing them of the impending tax deed. This means a search of the registry of deeds must be done before the notices can be mailed. Follow the link for more information on how to generate Deed Notices.
Execute Deed (RSA 80:76): RSA 80:76 states, “The collector, after 2 years from the execution of the real estate lien, shall execute to the lienholder a deed of the land subject to the real estate tax lien and not redeemed.” There are only two reasons a collector should not deed a property: the owner has filed bankruptcy or the selectmen decide they do not want the property. If the selectmen decide not to take the deed on a property, a deed waiver form should be filled out and signed by the selectmen. Follow the link for more information on how to Execute a Deed.
Please see our online documentation for more useful Tax Collect software tips.
In our last update (Collect 7.0.5), we added a new payment tender option when processing Real Estate Services payments. If your municipality has opted to have your Real Estate Services tax payments electronically transferred directly into your municipal bank account, as opposed to getting actual checks in the mail, we added the option to enable ACHRE as a tender type. Previously, your only option was to show each imported payment with the tender type of CHECK.
Continue reading
Avitar Associates 