No masjid should lose its building over a bill nobody saw.
Mosques are usually exempt from property tax, but only when the paperwork is right. When it isn’t, bills pile up, the county sells the debt, and an investor can end up owning the building. We check county records for the mosques in our listings every week, and the property check is free for any mosque that asks.
How mosques end up at a tax sale
The exemption never moved over
A mosque buys a church or an office. The old owner's exemption ends with the sale, and nobody files a new one. The building is quietly billed as taxable.
The deed is in a person's name
A founder or imam bought the building years ago. Property in a person's name can't be exempt, and when that person moves or dies, notices stop arriving.
Notices go to the wrong place
Bills are mailed to an old office or a former treasurer. In the Bronx, the city had a wrong address for Masjid Al-Faysal; its tax lien was sold and the building was auctioned in 2008. It took a court case to get it back.
A second parcel is forgotten
The main building is exempt, but a parking lot, a house next door or an empty lot isn't. Its bill goes unpaid until it appears on the delinquent list.
It still happens. Recently a suburban Chicago community found that one of its masjid’s tax bills had gone unpaid and the property had been bought at the tax sale. It got the building back through a settlement, after a great deal of distress that a once-a-year check would have avoided.
Read the full guide: how mosques lose their buildings over property tax, state by state
What we check
Every week we compare the mosques in our listings with public county records (last run November 9, 2026):
- Broward County, FLwho owns the parcel; its exemption and use code (71 is religious)
- City of Detroit, MIwho the city bills for the property; whether it carries the house-of-worship exemption; whether the Wayne County Treasurer shows delinquent or forfeited taxes
- Collin County, TXwho the appraisal district lists as owner; its exemptions (EX-XV is the religious/charitable exemption)
- Contra Costa County, CAthe parcel at each listed mosque, its use and exemption; whether the Tax Collector shows delinquent or prior-year taxes
- Cook County, ILwho the county bills for the property; whether it is on the county's tax-exempt list, this year and previous years
- Cuyahoga County, OHwho owns the parcel and where bills are mailed; its certified exempt value and tax class
- Cuyahoga County, OHwho owns the parcel and where bills are mailed; its certified exempt value and tax class
- DeKalb County, GAwho owns the parcel; its class (E2 is religious exempt) and assessed value
- District of Columbiawho owns the property; its tax class and exemption; unpaid real property tax by year, with the tax office's tax-sale codes
- DuPage County, ILwho the county bills, and where bills are mailed; whether the property is classed as exempt
- Fort Bend County, TXwho the appraisal district lists as owner; its exemptions and state code
- Franklin County, OHwho owns the parcel, and where bills are mailed; whether it is classed as exempt; recorded sales and sheriff foreclosure sales
- Fulton County, GAwho owns the parcel; its exempt class (E2 is religious)
- Harris County, TXwho the appraisal district lists as owner; its state class (X-classes are exempt) and taxable value
- Los Angeles County, CAthe parcel at each listed mosque, its use and exemption; whether the Assessor shows the taxes as current or in default, and since when
- Maricopa County, AZwho owns the parcel and where bills are mailed; its land-use and legal class
- Massachusetts (statewide assessors' parcels)who owns the parcel; its use code (the 960 series is religious)
- Mecklenburg County, NCwho owns the parcel; its exemption (religious) and land use; whether it is in a county tax foreclosure
- Miami-Dade County, FLwho owns the parcel; its use code ("religious – exempt")
- New York Citywho owns the lot; whether it carries a tax exemption; whether it appears on the city's tax lien sale lists
- New York State (outside NYC)who owns the parcel and where bills are mailed; its property class and whether it is on the wholly-exempt roll
- Philadelphia, PAwho owns the property and where bills are mailed; its building and land exemption
- Prince George's County, MDwho owns the property; its exempt class and status
- Riverside County, CAthe parcel at each listed mosque and its use class; whether it is on the Tax Collector's tax-sale inventory
- San Joaquin County, CAwho the county lists as owner or care-of; its exemption code; whether the Tax Collector shows the taxes in default
- Texas county tax sales (Linebarger listings)whether the mosque's address appears on a Texas county tax-sale or struck-off list
- Will County, ILwhether the parcel is classed as exempt; who the treasurer bills and where bills are mailed; whether the current taxes were paid or sold at the county tax sale; five years of exemptions and tax billed
Many counties publish their delinquent-tax lists only in newspapers. We review those by hand. More counties are coming. If yours isn’t listed, a free property check covers it anyway.
How we handle what we find
- A person checks the official county record. Automated matches are only leads.
- Where we have a way to reach the mosque, we contact it, explain what the record shows, and point to payment plans and help. Many mosques don’t publish an email address; a board member can claim the mosque’s page so we can reach them directly.
- Only an official, public sale or lien record that a person has confirmed can appear on a mosque’s page, shown with the government records behind it. Nothing else we find is published.
For members: ask your masjid
Every listed mosque’s page on NoorMaphas a “Governance & compliance” section: the standards it meets, its property records, a kind message you can send the board asking for an Ihsan audit, and a way to report a concern.
For boards: a ten-minute check
- Look up every parcel the mosque owns on the county assessor’s site, including lots and houses.
- Check the owner name is the mosque’s nonprofit, exactly as registered.
- Check each parcel is listed as exempt, or that its taxes are paid if it isn’t (a rental house, for example).
- Check the mailing address for tax bills is one someone reads.
- Look up each parcel on the county treasurer’s site for unpaid or sold taxes.