Short answer. Yes. Rule 39 gives the judgment obligor, or his successor in interest, the right to redeem real property sold on execution within one year from the date of registration of the certificate of sale, by paying the purchaser the price with one per cent monthly interest plus taxes or assessments the purchaser paid.
What the law says
The judgment obligor, or his successor in interest in the whole or any part of the property
Rule 39, Section 27 — Who may redeem real property so sold. Read the full provision →
What the law says
may redeem the property from the purchaser, at any time within one year from the date of the registration of the certificate of sale, by paying the purchaser the amount of his purchase, with one per centum per month interest thereon in addition, up to the time of redemption
Rule 39, Section 28 — Time and manner of, and amounts payable on, successive redemptions; notice to be given and filed. Read the full provision →
Who may redeem
Rule 39, Section 27 names two classes. First, The judgment obligor, or his successor in interest in the whole or any part of the property — that is you, the person whose land was sold, or someone who has acquired your interest. Second, a creditor holding a lien on the property — by attachment, judgment or mortgage — subsequent to the lien under which it was sold; the rule calls this creditor a redemptioner. An execution sale, in other words, does not immediately extinguish your connection to the land. It opens a redemption period in which you can still take it back.
One year, counted from registration
Section 28 fixes the window: the obligor or redemptioner may redeem the property from the purchaser, at any time within one year from the date of the registration of the certificate of sale. The starting point is not the auction day but the registration of the certificate of sale — a date you can verify at the registry of deeds, and should, because everything turns on it. Redemption is done by paying the purchaser the amount of his purchase, with one per centum per month interest thereon in addition, up to the time of redemption, together with any assessments or taxes the purchaser paid after the purchase, with interest on those at the same rate.
Successive redemptions by creditors
The rule then layers a second mechanism on top: property redeemed by a redemptioner may itself be redeemed again within sixty days after the last redemption, on paying the sum paid on the last redemption with two per cent in addition, plus that redemptioner's taxes, assessments and prior liens with interest — and so on, as often as a redemptioner is so disposed. This chain of sixty-day redemptions is how competing creditors sort out their priorities over the property. For the former owner the practical point is simpler: your own one-year right, as judgment obligor, is the anchor date to protect.
Doing it properly
Redemption has its own paperwork discipline. Written notice of any redemption must be given to the officer who made the sale and a duplicate filed with the registry of deeds of the place; a redemptioner who pays taxes or holds additional liens must notify in the same manner, and if that notice is not filed, the property may be redeemed without paying those amounts. If you intend to redeem, compute the full figure — price, one per cent per month, and the purchaser's documented taxes — and move well before the year runs out. A lawyer will want the certificate of sale, its registration date, and proof of every amount the purchaser has paid.
Related provisions
- Rule 39, Section 27 — Who may redeem real property so sold
- Rule 39, Section 28 — Time and manner of, and amounts payable on, successive redemptions; notice to be given and filed