BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 62

By: Zaffirini

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A county is required to post notice of a foreclosure sale on the county's website, if it maintains a website, but is not required to post crucial details such as the time and location of the sale. This lack of accessible information decreases sales prospects. Relatedly, some counties require persons interested in bidding at a tax foreclosure auction to obtain a statement of delinquent taxes from the county assessor-collector. While the comptroller of public accounts has a standardized form for this statement, some counties use their own form in lieu of the comptroller's form. Although larger counties typically post the appropriate form on their website, most smaller counties often do not, making it difficult for the public to obtain the correct form. S.B. 62 seeks to address these issues and improve transparency and processes relating to property sales by requiring the posting of applicable sale information and the form a person must use to request a delinquent tax statement.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 62 amends the Property Code to do the following with respect to the requirement that a county post a notice of a sale of real property under a contract lien that is filed with the county clerk on the county's website on a page that is publicly available for viewing without charge or registration:

·         remove language that limits the requirement's applicability to a county that maintains a website;

·         require that the posting be prominently posted; and

·         specify that such page is a page where the county posts other auction information.

The bill requires the county, along with each posted notice of sale, to post the date, time, and location of the sale on the same website page on which the notice is posted.

S.B. 62 amends the Tax Code to require the county assessor-collector for each applicable county to post on the county's website the form a person must use in that county to request a statement stating whether there are any delinquent taxes owed by the person to that county or to a school district or municipality having territory in that county, except that if the county assessor-collector permits a person to use a form prescribed by the comptroller of public accounts for that purpose, the county assessor-collector may post a link to the location on the comptroller's website where the form may be viewed instead of posting the form.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.