The collection agencies don’t want to foreclose. They want the vig on the lien. If the home has a mortgage (most likely), they’ll lean on the bank that holds the mortgage. Tax liens take precedence over mortgages, and the tax lien holder will swipe the property away from the bank in a foreclosure proceeding (the government is always paid first).

The company that bought the tax lien on the property I was renting bought the first tax lien for a few thousand dollars, they were then on the hook for all additional tax, water and sewer and other municipal bills on the property for the three years it took to declare the taxes delinquent and get a foreclosure case fully through the court system. If, at any time, the home owner had contacted the lien company or city, she could have avoided the foreclosure. The bank (Bank of America), just let the foreclosure happen, she wasn’t paying her mortgage either.