Bill Text: WV HB3062 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to sale of delinquent tax liens
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-02-12 - To House Judiciary [HB3062 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2019-HB3062-Introduced.html
WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 3062
By Delegate Porterfield
[Introduced February 12,
2019; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-4, §11A-3-19, §11A-3-52, and §11A-3-56 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §11A-4-6 of said code, all relating to sale of delinquent tax liens; redemption; fees; purchaser’s obligations and rights; changing time for redemption and time to set aside a deed; and reducing the time to redeem by persons with disabilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 3. SALE OF TAX LIENS AND NONENTERED, ESCHEATED AND WASTE AND UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS.
§11A-3-4. Redemption after second publication and before sale.
Any of the real estate
included in the list published pursuant to the provisions of §11A-3-2 of
this code may be redeemed at any time before sale as provided in §11A-2-18 of
this code. All payments for delinquent real estate taxes received within 14
business days prior to the date of sale must be paid by cashier check, money
order, certified check or United States currency: Provided,
That all payments for the redemption of
delinquent real estate taxes shall be made before the payment made by a
purchaser of final costs to secure a deed.
§11A-3-19. What purchaser must do before the deed can be secured.
(a) At any time after August 31 of the year following the sheriff’s sale, and on or before October 31 of the same year, the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns, in order to secure a deed for the real estate subject to the tax lien or liens purchased, shall:
(1) Prepare a list of those to be served with notice to redeem and request the State Auditor to prepare and serve the notice as provided in §11A-3-21 and §11A-3-22 of this code;
(2) When the real property subject to the tax lien is classified as Class II property and is assessed for residential improvements located thereon, provide the State Auditor with the physical mailing address of the property that is subject to the tax lien or liens purchased;
(3) Provide the State Auditor with a list of any additional expenses incurred after January 1 of the year following the sheriff’s sale for the preparation of the list of those to be served with notice to redeem, including proof of the additional expenses in the form of receipts or other evidence of reasonable legal expenses incurred for the services of any attorney who has performed an examination of the title to the real estate and rendered written documentation used in the preparation of the list of those to be served with the notice to redeem: Provided, That these expenses shall not exceed $500;
(4) Deposit with the State Auditor a sum sufficient to cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice; and
(5) Present the purchaser’s certificate of sale, or order of the county commission where the certificate has been lost or wrongfully withheld from the owner, to the State Auditor.
If the purchaser fails to meet these requirements, he or she shall lose all the benefits of his or her purchase.
(b) If the person requesting preparation and service of the notice is an assignee of the purchaser he or she shall, at the time of the request, file with the State Auditor a written assignment to him or her of the purchaser’s rights, executed, acknowledged, and certified in the manner required to make a valid deed.
(c) Whenever any certificate given by the sheriff for a tax lien on any land, or interest in the land sold for delinquent taxes, or any assignment of the lien is lost or wrongfully withheld from the rightful owner of the land and the land or interest has not been redeemed, the county commission may receive evidence of the loss or wrongful detention and, upon satisfactory proof of that fact, may cause a certificate of the proof and finding, properly attested by the State Auditor, to be delivered to the rightful claimant and a record of the certificate shall be duly made by the county clerk in the recorded proceedings of the commission.
§11A-3-52. What purchaser must do before he can secure a deed.
(a) Within 45 days following the approval of the sale by the auditor pursuant to §11A-3-51 of this code, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, in order to secure a deed for the real estate purchased, shall:
(1) Prepare a list of those to be served with notice to redeem and request the deputy commissioner to prepare and serve the notice as provided in §11A-3-54 and §11A-3-55 of this code;
(2) When the real property subject to the tax lien was classified as Class II property and is assessed for residential improvements located thereon, provide the deputy commissioner with the actual mailing address of the property that is subject to the tax lien or liens purchased; and
(3) Deposit, or offer to deposit, with the deputy commissioner a sum sufficient to cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice.
(b) If the purchaser fails to fulfill the requirements set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, the purchaser shall lose all the benefits of his or her purchase.
(c) After the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section have been satisfied, the deputy commissioner may then sell the property in the same manner as he sells lands which have been offered for sale at public auction, but which remain unsold after such auction, as provided in §11A-3-48 of this code.
(d) If the person requesting preparation and service of the notice is an assignee of the purchaser, he shall, at the time of the request, file with the deputy commissioner a written assignment to him of the purchaser's rights, executed, acknowledged and certified in the manner required to make a valid deed.
(e) The purchaser shall have reasonable access as necessary to protect the real property upon the payment of final costs and fees required by this section. The delinquent tax payer shall have no right of access to the real property after the recording of the deed to purchaser.
§11A-3-56. Redemption from purchase; receipt; list of redemptions; lien; lien of person redeeming interest of another; record.
(a) After the sale of any
tax lien on any real estate pursuant to §11A-3-45 or §11A-3-48 of this code,
the owner of, or any other person who was entitled to pay the taxes on, any
real estate for which a tax lien thereon was purchased by an individual, may
redeem at any time not exceeding 90 days after the time specified in the
notice to redeem provided in §11A-3-54 of this code and before a tax deed is issued therefor. In order to
redeem, he or she must pay to the deputy commissioner the following
amounts: (1) An amount equal to the taxes, interest and charges due on the date
of the sale, with interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month from
the date of sale; (2) all other taxes thereon, which have since been paid by
the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns, with interest at the rate of
one percent per month from the date of payment; (3) such additional expenses as
may have been incurred in preparing the list of those to be served with notice
to redeem, and any title examination incident thereto, with interest at the
rate of one percent per month from the date of payment, but the amount he or
she shall be required to pay, excluding said interest, for such expenses
incurred for the preparation of the list of those to be served with notice to
redeem required by §11A-3-52 of this code, and any title examination
incident thereto, shall not exceed $200 $500; (4) all additional
statutory costs paid by the purchaser; and (5) the deputy commissioner's fee
and commission as provided by §11A-3-66 of this article code. Where the
deputy commissioner has not received from the purchaser satisfactory proof of
the expenses incurred in preparing the notice to redeem, and any examination of
title incident thereto, in the form of receipts or other evidence thereof, the
person redeeming shall pay the deputy commissioner the sum of $200 plus
interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month from the date of the sale
for disposition pursuant to the provisions of §11A-3-57, §11A-3-58 and
§11A-3-64 of this article code. Upon payment to the deputy
commissioner of those and any other unpaid statutory charges required by this
article, and of any unpaid expenses incurred by the sheriff, the Auditor and
the deputy commissioner in the exercise of their duties pursuant to this
article, the deputy commissioner shall prepare an original and five copies of
the receipt for the payment and shall note on said receipts that the property
has been redeemed. The original of such receipt shall be given to the person
redeeming. The deputy commissioner shall retain a copy of the receipt and
forward one copy each to the sheriff, assessor, the Auditor and the clerk of the
county commission. The clerk shall endorse on the receipt the fact and time of
such filing and note the fact of redemption on his or her record of
delinquent lands.
(b) Any person who, by reason of the fact that no provision is made for partial redemption of the tax lien on real estate purchased by an individual, is compelled in order to protect himself or herself to redeem the tax lien on all of such real estate when it belongs, in whole or in part, to some other person, shall have a lien on the interest of such other person for the amount paid to redeem such interest. He or she shall lose his or her right to the lien, however, unless within thirty days after payment he or she shall file with the clerk of the county commission his or her claim in writing against the owner of such interest, together with the receipt provided for in this section. The clerk shall docket the claim on the judgment lien docket in his or her office and properly index the same. Such lien may be enforced as other judgment liens are enforced.
ARTICLE 4. REMEDIES RELATING TO TAX SALES.
§11A-4-6. Redemption by persons under disability from purchase by individual.
In addition to and notwithstanding
any other provisions of this article, any infant or mentally incapacitated
person whose real estate was, during such disability, conveyed by tax deed
pursuant to this chapter to an individual purchaser, may redeem such real
estate by paying to the purchaser, or his or her heirs or assigns,
before the expiration of one year after removal of the disability but in no
event more than twenty five years after the deed was
obtained the amount of the purchase money, together with the necessary charges
incurred in obtaining the deed, and any taxes paid on the property since the
sale, with interest on such items at the rate of 12 percent per annum from the
date each was paid. If such person was the owner of an undivided interest in
the real estate sold, he or she may redeem such interest by paying that
proportion of the purchase money, charges, taxes and interest chargeable to his
or her interest; but after a deed has been delivered to the purchaser,
he or she shall not have the right to redeem more than his or her
own undivided interest. If improvements have been made on such real estate
after the deed was obtained and before the offer to redeem as herein provided,
the person redeeming shall pay to the purchaser, or his or her heirs or
assigns, the value of the improvements at the time of such offer, after
deducting therefrom the value of the use of such real estate without the
improvements, from the date of the deed to the date of the offer. Upon payment
or tender of payment, the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns, shall,
at the expense of the person redeeming, convey to him or her by
quitclaim deed the real estate so redeemed.
One entitled to redeem under the provisions of this section may, if he or she is unable or is not willing to pay for the improvements made by the purchaser, elect to relinquish his or her interest in the property. If he or she so elects, he or she shall be entitled to an amount equal to the estimated present value of the land without the improvements less what he or she would have had to pay to redeem the land had no improvements been made. Upon payment to him or her of such amount, he or she shall by quitclaim deed convey the land to the purchaser, his or her heirs or assigns.
If in any case provided for in this section the parties cannot agree on the amount to be paid, any of them may upon ten days' notice in writing to the other, or others, apply by petition, to the circuit court of the county in which the real estate is situated to have the matter referred to a commissioner to ascertain the proper amount to be paid. Upon confirmation by the court or judge of the report of the commissioner, and upon payment or tender of the amount, if any, so ascertained to be due, the person to whom payment or tender was made, shall execute the quitclaim deed as provided above. In the event of his or her refusal to do so, the court, or judge, may appoint a commissioner to execute the deed.
If there is a refusal to execute the deed in any case in which there was no dispute as to the amount necessary for redemption, the person entitled to the deed may, upon 10 days' notice in writing to the other party or parties, apply by petition to the circuit court for the appointment of a commissioner to execute the deed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend provisions relating to sale of delinquent tax liens; redemption; fees; and purchaser’s obligations and rights. The bill changes the time for redemption and time to set aside a deed; and reduces the time to redeem by persons with disabilities.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
