Reliance Equities, LLC v. Lanier 5, LLC, 299 Ga. 891

Whitney owned property in Habersham County and became delinquent on property taxes; Lanier purchased the property at a tax sale (Aug. 6, 2013).
Over a year later Lanier sent a certified and a first-class mail notice of foreclosure of the right to redeem to Whitney (Aug. 15, 2014), setting a redemption deadline of Sept. 21, 2014; certified mail was unclaimed but first-class mail was not returned.
Whitney executed a security deed to Reliance on Aug. 29, 2014. Whitney (through an agent) attempted to redeem two days after the Sept. 21 deadline; Lanier rejected the tender as untimely.
Lanier then published a four-week newspaper notice in Oct. 2014 of foreclosure of the right to redeem, with an October 23, 2014 deadline. Lanier later filed to quiet title in its favor; Whitney counterclaimed to quiet title for himself.
The trial court denied Whitney’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, found Lanier satisfied due process, granted Lanier judgment on the pleadings, and quieted title to Lanier; Reliance’s motion to intervene was denied.
On appeal the Supreme Court of Georgia reversed for Whitney, holding Lanier foreclosed the right to redeem prematurely because it had not complied with all subsections of OCGA § 48-4-45(a) before rejecting Whitney’s tender.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether foreclosure of the right to redeem requires compliance with OCGA § 48-4-45(a)(1), (2), and (3) before foreclosure is effective	Whitney: All three paragraphs are conjunctive; purchaser must satisfy (1) service in-county, (2) registered/certified/overnight notice to out-of-county persons whose addresses are ascertainable, and (3) publication once weekly for four weeks before foreclosure	Lanier: Compliance with statutory and constitutional notice (certified + regular mail and phone verification) satisfied requirements and foreclosure was effective when those steps occurred	Held: Statute’s plain language requires compliance with (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(3) conjunctively; Lanier had not completed (a)(3) publication before Whitney’s tender, so foreclosure was premature and the trial court’s judgment for Lanier was reversed
Whether Reliance’s appeal of denial to intervene remains live after reversal	Reliance: Should be allowed to intervene as a matter of right under OCGA § 9-11-24(a)(2)	Lanier/Respondent: Intervention denial stands; underlying dispute resolved	Held: Moot — because reversal disposes of underlying dispute, Reliance’s appeal is dismissed as moot

Saffo v. Foxworthy, Inc., 286 Ga. 284 (2009) (publication required for tax sales on or after July 1, 1989)
Hamilton v. Renewed Hope, Inc., 277 Ga. 465 (2003) (before resorting to publication purchaser must attempt ascertainment and notify owner by personal service, overnight delivery, or registered/certified mail)
Funderburke v. Kellett, 257 Ga. 822 (1987) (publication alone does not satisfy due process when owner resides outside county)
Mennonite Bd. of Missions v. Adams, 462 U.S. 791 (1983) (constitutional limits on notice by publication to protect property interests)
Harper v. Virginia Dep't of Taxation, 509 U.S. 86 (1993) (state law may provide remedies or protections beyond federal due process)
Wallace v. President Street, L.P., 263 Ga. 239 (1993) (liberal construction of redemption provisions to favor property owner)