Iowa-2017-HF2318-Introduced
House File 2318 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 605)
(COMPANION TO SF 2166
BY COMMITTEE ON
JUDICIARY)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to redemption by certain persons of parcels
2 sold at tax sale.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 445.1, Code 2018, is amended by adding
1 2 the following new subsections:
1 3 NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. "Legal representative" means a parent,
1 4 guardian, or conservator of a person with a legal disability, a
1 5 person appointed by a court to act on behalf of a person with a
1 6 legal disability, or a person acting on behalf of a person with
1 7 a legal disability pursuant to a power of attorney.
1 8 NEW SUBSECTION. 4A. "Person with a legal disability" means
1 9 a minor or a person of unsound mind.
1 10 Sec. 2. Section 447.7, Code 2018, is amended by striking the
1 11 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
1 12 447.7 Redemption by minors and persons of unsound mind.
1 13 1. If a parcel of a person with a legal disability is sold
1 14 at tax sale and the county treasurer has not delivered the
1 15 treasurer's deed, a legal representative of the person with the
1 16 legal disability may redeem the parcel under sections 447.1 and
1 17 447.3.
1 18 2. a. If a parcel of a person with a legal disability is
1 19 sold at tax sale and the county treasurer has delivered the
1 20 treasurer's deed, the person with the legal disability or the
1 21 person's legal representative may redeem the parcel at any
1 22 time prior to one year after the legal disability is removed
1 23 by bringing an equitable action for redemption in the district
1 24 court of the county where the parcel is located, unless the
1 25 action is required to be brought sooner in time by operation of
1 26 subsection 3 or 4.
1 27 b. To establish the right to redeem, the person maintaining
1 28 the action shall prove to the court that the owner of the
1 29 parcel is a person with a legal disability entitled to redeem
1 30 prior to the delivery of the treasurer's deed. If the legal
1 31 disability has been removed, the person maintaining the action
1 32 shall establish the date the disability was removed and explain
1 33 the manner by which the legal disability was removed.
1 34 c. The person maintaining the action shall name as
1 35 defendants all persons claiming an interest in the parcel
2 1 derived from the tax sale, as shown by the record.
2 2 d. If the court determines that the person maintaining the
2 3 action or the person's legal representative is entitled to
2 4 redeem by virtue of legal disability or prior legal disability,
2 5 the court shall so order. The order shall determine the
2 6 rights, claims, and interests of all parties, including liens
2 7 for taxes and claims for improvements made on or to the parcel
2 8 by the person claiming under the tax title. The order shall
2 9 establish the amount necessary to effect redemption. The
2 10 redemption amount shall include the amount for redemption
2 11 computed in accordance with section 447.1 or 447.3, whichever
2 12 is applicable, including interest computed up to and including
2 13 the date of payment of the total redemption amount to the clerk
2 14 of court and the amount of all costs added to the redemption
2 15 amount in accordance with section 447.13. In addition, if
2 16 the person claiming under the tax title is determined by the
2 17 court to have made improvements on or to the parcel after the
2 18 treasurer's deed was issued, the court shall enter judgment in
2 19 favor of the person claiming under the tax title for an amount
2 20 equal to the value of all such improvements, and such judgment
2 21 shall be a lien on the parcel until paid. The order shall
2 22 direct that the person maintaining the action shall pay to the
2 23 clerk of court, within thirty days after the date of the order,
2 24 the total redemption amount the order sets forth.
2 25 e. Upon timely receipt of the payment, the court shall
2 26 enter judgment declaring the treasurer's deed to be void and
2 27 determining the resulting rights, claims, and interests of
2 28 all parties to the action. In its judgment, the court shall
2 29 direct the clerk of court to deliver the entire amount of the
2 30 redemption payment to the person claiming title under the
2 31 treasurer's deed.
2 32 f. If the person maintaining the action fails to timely
2 33 deliver payment of the total redemption amount to the clerk of
2 34 court, the court shall enter judgment holding that all rights
2 35 of redemption of the person with a legal disability who brought
3 1 the action, or on whose behalf the action was brought, are
3 2 terminated and that the validity of the tax title or purported
3 3 tax title is conclusively established as a matter of law
3 4 against the claims of such person with a legal disability.
3 5 3. If a person with a legal disability remains in possession
3 6 of the parcel after the recording of the treasurer's deed, and
3 7 if the person claiming under the tax title properly commences
3 8 an action to remove the person from possession, the person
3 9 with a legal disability shall forfeit any rights of redemption
3 10 that the person may have under this section, unless either of
3 11 the following actions is timely filed by or on behalf of the
3 12 person:
3 13 a. A counterclaim in the removal action asserting the
3 14 redemption rights under subsection 2 of the person with a legal
3 15 disability.
3 16 b. A separate action under subsection 2. Such action shall
3 17 be filed within thirty days after the person with a legal
3 18 disability and the person's legal representative were served
3 19 with original notice in the removal action. If an action under
3 20 subsection 2 is filed by or on behalf of the person with a legal
3 21 disability within the thirty=day period, the court may order
3 22 the action consolidated with the removal action.
3 23 4. If a person with a legal disability is not in possession
3 24 of the parcel at the time of the recording of the treasurer's
3 25 deed, the person or the person's legal representative is
3 26 forever barred and estopped from commencing an action under
3 27 this section if either of the following occurs:
3 28 a. An affidavit is filed pursuant to section 448.15 and
3 29 claims adverse to the tax title are barred by section 448.16.
3 30 b. An action under subsection 2 is not brought within three
3 31 years after the recording of the treasurer's deed.
3 32 Sec. 3. Section 447.8, subsection 1, Code 2018, is amended
3 33 to read as follows:
3 34 1. a. After the delivery of the treasurer's deed, a person
3 35 entitled to redeem a parcel sold at tax sale shall do so only by
4 1 an equitable action in the district court of the county where
4 2 the parcel is located. The action to redeem may be maintained
4 3 only by a person who was entitled to redeem the parcel during
4 4 the ninety=day redemption period in section 447.12, except that
4 5 such a person may assign the person's right of redemption or
4 6 right to maintain the action to another person, or by a person
4 7 entitled to redeem under section 447.7.
4 8 b. In order to establish the right to redeem, the person
4 9 maintaining the action shall be required to prove to the court
4 10 either that the person maintaining the action or a predecessor
4 11 in interest was not properly served with notice in accordance
4 12 with the requirements of sections 447.9 through 447.12, or that
4 13 the person maintaining the action or a predecessor in interest
4 14 acquired an interest in or possession of the parcel during
4 15 the ninety=day redemption period in section 447.12. A person
4 16 shall not be entitled to maintain such action by claiming that
4 17 a different person was not properly served with notice of
4 18 expiration of right of redemption, if the person seeking to
4 19 maintain the action, or the person's predecessor in interest,
4 20 if applicable, was properly served with the notice. A After
4 21 the execution and delivery of the treasurer's deed, a person
4 22 is not allowed to may only redeem a parcel sold for delinquent
4 23 taxes in any other manner after the execution and delivery of
4 24 the treasurer's deed under this section or section 447.7.
4 25 Sec. 4. Section 448.6, subsection 1, Code 2018, is amended
4 26 to read as follows:
4 27 1. A deed executed by the county treasurer in conformity
4 28 with the requirements of sections 448.2 and 448.3 shall
4 29 be presumed to effect a valid title conveyance, and the
4 30 treasurer's deed may be challenged only by an equitable action
4 31 in the district court in the county in which the parcel is
4 32 located. If the action seeks an order of the court to allow
4 33 redemption after delivery of the treasurer's deed because the
4 34 person seeking to redeem is a person with a legal disability
4 35 who was entitled to redeem prior to the delivery of the
5 1 treasurer's deed, the action shall be brought in accordance
5 2 with section 447.7. If the action seeks an order of the court
5 3 to allow redemption after delivery of the treasurer's deed
5 4 based on improper service of notice of expiration of right of
5 5 redemption, the action shall be brought in accordance with
5 6 section 447.8. If the action is not brought on that basis
5 7 under section 447.7 or 447.8, the action shall be controlled by
5 8 the provisions of this section.
5 9 Sec. 5. Section 448.16, subsection 3, Code 2018, is amended
5 10 to read as follows:
5 11 3. An action to enforce a claim filed under subsection 1
5 12 shall be commenced within sixty days after the date of filing
5 13 the claim. The action may be commenced by the claimant, or
5 14 a person under whom the claimant claims title, under either
5 15 section 447.7, 447.8, or 448.6. If an action by the claimant,
5 16 or such other person, is not filed within sixty days after the
5 17 filing of the claim, the claim thereafter shall be forfeited
5 18 and canceled without any further notice or action, and the
5 19 claimant, or the person under whom the claimant claims title,
5 20 thereafter shall be forever barred and estopped from having or
5 21 claiming any right, title, or interest in the parcel adverse to
5 22 the tax title or purported tax title.
5 23 EXPLANATION
5 24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
5 25 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
5 26 This bill relates to the mechanism by which minors or persons
5 27 of unsound mind, or their legal representatives, who own real
5 28 estate which was sold at a tax sale may redeem such parcels.
5 29 The bill defines "legal representative" as a parent,
5 30 guardian, or conservator of a person with a legal disability, a
5 31 person appointed by a court to act on behalf of a person with a
5 32 legal disability, or a person acting on behalf of a person with
5 33 a legal disability pursuant to a power of attorney. The bill
5 34 defines "person with a legal disability" as a minor or a person
5 35 of unsound mind.
6 1 Under current law, if a person with a legal disability is the
6 2 owner of a parcel that is sold at a tax sale and the treasurer's
6 3 deed has been delivered, the person with a legal disability
6 4 may redeem the parcel at any time within one year after the
6 5 disability is removed, in the manner specified in Code section
6 6 447.8. Code section 447.8 specifies the manner of redemption
6 7 by an owner who alleges a failure by the holder of the tax title
6 8 to serve the parcel owner with notice of the tax sale and the
6 9 parcel owner's redemption rights.
6 10 The bill specifies the procedure by which a person with
6 11 a legal disability can redeem a parcel sold at a tax sale
6 12 after the delivery of the treasurer's deed. Before delivery
6 13 of the treasurer's deed, the bill provides that the person
6 14 with a legal disability or the person's legal representative
6 15 may redeem under Code sections 447.1 and 447.3, which is the
6 16 same as current law. After delivery of the treasurer's deed,
6 17 the person with a legal disability or the person's legal
6 18 representative must bring an equitable action for redemption in
6 19 the district court of the county where the parcel is located
6 20 and prove to the court that prior to the delivery of the
6 21 treasurer's deed, the person with a legal disability or the
6 22 person's legal representative was entitled to redeem by virtue
6 23 of such disability. All persons claiming an interest in the
6 24 parcel from the tax sale must be named as defendants. If the
6 25 court determines that the person with a legal disability or the
6 26 person's legal representative is entitled to redeem, the court
6 27 will determine the rights, claims, and interests of all of the
6 28 parties, and will establish the amount necessary to effect
6 29 redemption. The person with a legal disability or the person's
6 30 legal representative has 30 days after the date of the order
6 31 to pay the redemption amount. Upon timely receipt of payment,
6 32 the court shall declare the treasurer's deed to be invalid.
6 33 If the person with a legal disability or the person's legal
6 34 representative fails to timely deliver payment, such person's
6 35 redemption rights are terminated.
7 1 The action may be brought until one year after the disability
7 2 is removed unless otherwise barred. The bill bars bringing
7 3 the action if the person with a legal disability remained in
7 4 possession of the parcel, the person claiming under the tax
7 5 title properly commenced an action to remove the person with
7 6 a legal disability, and the person with a legal disability
7 7 or the person's legal representative fails to timely file
7 8 a counterclaim or separate action asserting the right of
7 9 redemption. The bill also bars the action if the person with
7 10 a legal disability is not in possession of the parcel and the
7 11 action is barred by Code section 448.16. Code section 448.16
7 12 bars actions where the person claiming under tax title records
7 13 an affidavit with the county recorder of the county where the
7 14 parcel is located and a person with redemption rights fails to
7 15 file a claim within 120 days after the filing of the affidavit.
7 16 Finally, the bill bars the action if it is not filed within
7 17 three years of the recording of the treasurer's deed.
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