Senate Bill No. 528
(By Senator Craigo)
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[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections fourteen, sixteen, nineteen,
twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five,
article three, chapter eleven-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to sheriff's tax lien sales; requiring the
purchaser of any tax lien to pay current taxes before a
certificate of sale is issued; extending the time limit
before charges attach for lien searches and preparation of
notices to redeem; providing a grace period publishing a
sheriff's sale list and redemption of property; and
clarifying the standard notice to redeem forms.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections fourteen, sixteen, nineteen, twenty-one,
twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five, article three, chapter
eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.
§11A-3-14. Purchase by individual at tax sale; certificate of sale.
(a) If any person, being The highest bidder present at the
sale provided for in section five of this article, bids and pays
at least the amount of taxes, interest and charges for which the
tax lien on any real estate is offered for sale, and pays any
subsequent taxes due at the time of sale, the sheriff shall issue
to him or her a certificate of sale for the purchase money. The
heading of the certificate shall be:
Memorandum of tax lien on real estate sold in the county of
on this day of , 19 ,
for the nonpayment of taxes charged thereon for the year (or
years) 19 .
Except for the heading, the tax commissioner shall prescribe
the form of the receipt.
(b) The certificate of sale shall describe the real estate
subject to the tax lien that was sold, the total amount of all
taxes, interest, penalties and costs paid for each lot or tract,
and the rate of interest to which the purchaser shall be is
entitled upon redemption. The certificate shall also set forth
columns for the entry of subsequent taxes and costs required to be paid on the date of the sale, and for the entry of subsequent
taxes and costs paid after the sale. For each certificate so
delivered, the purchaser shall pay a fee of ten dollars, and such
that amount shall be included in the costs described therein in
the certificate.
§11A-3-16. Subsequent tax payments by purchaser.
Any person who has paid any subsequent taxes, other than
subsequent taxes paid on the date of the sale provided for in
section fourteen of this article, on lands for which he or she
holds the certificate of sale described in section fourteen or
fifteen of this article shall produce such the certificate and
copies of paid tax receipts to the clerk of the county
commission, who shall endorse the amount of such the subsequent
taxes and the date of payment thereof of the taxes in his or her
records upon the payment to the clerk of a fee therefor for the
endorsement in the amount of two dollars.
§11A-3-19. What purchaser must do before he or she can secure deed.
(a) At any time after the thirty-first day of October
thirty-first of the year following the sheriff's sale, and on or
before the thirty-first day of December thirty-first of the same
year, the purchaser or 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 clerk to prepare and serve
the notice as provided in sections twenty-one and twenty-two of
this article; (2) provide to the clerk of the county commission
any additional expenses incurred after the first day of April of
the year following the sheriff's sale in preparing the list of
those to be served with notice to redeem the property and any
title examination incident to the redemption. The purchaser, his
or her ... or assigns shall provide satisfactory proof of the
additional expenses in the form of receipts or some other form of
evidence of legal expenses incurred for the services of
attorneys, paralegals or other persons who regularly perform such
services as a standard practice of their employment; (2) (3)
deposit, or offer to deposit, with the clerk, a sum sufficient to
cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice; and (3) (4)
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 clerk of the county
commission. For failure to meet these requirements, the A
purchaser who fails to meet the requirements of this subsection
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 clerk 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 therein in any land sold for
delinquent taxes, or any assignment thereof of the interest, is
lost or wrongfully withheld from the rightful owner thereof of
the land or interest in the land and such the land or interest
has not been redeemed, the county commission may receive evidence
of such the loss or wrongful detention and, upon satisfactory
proof of such that fact, may cause a certificate of such the
proof and finding, properly attested by the county clerk under
the seal of the county, to be delivered to such the rightful
claimant, and a record thereof of the certificate shall be duly
made by the county clerk in the recorded proceedings of the
commission.
§11A-3-21. Notice to redeem.
(a) Whenever the provisions of section nineteen of this
article have been complied with, the clerk of the county
commission shall thereupon prepare a notice in form or effect as
follows:
To___________________________________.
You will take notice that ___________, the purchaser (or
_____________, the assignee, heir or devisee of ____________ ,the
purchaser) of the tax lien(s) on the following real estate,
________________, (here describe the real estate for which the tax lien(s) thereon were sold) located in _____________, (here
name the city, town or village in which the real estate is
situated or, if not within a city, town or village, give the
district and a general description) which was returned delinquent
in the name of ________________, and for which the tax lien(s)
thereon was sold by the sheriff of _______________ County at the
sale for delinquent taxes made on the _________________ day of
_____________, 19___ , has requested that you be notified that a
deed for such real estate will be made to him or her on or after
the first day of April, 19 , as provided by law, unless before
that day you redeem such real estate. The amount you will have
to pay to redeem on the last day, March thirty-first, will be as
follows:
Amount equal to the taxes, interest, and charges due on the
date of sale, with interest to March 31, 19__ ........$__________
Amount of subsequent years taxes paid on the property,
during and since the sale, with interest to March 31, 19__
.......................... $___________
Amount paid for title examination and preparation of list of
those to be served, and for preparation and service of the notice
with interest from April 1, ________(insert year following the
sheriff's sale) to March 31, 19__ ......................
$__________
Amount paid for other statutory costs (describe) _______________________________________________________________ _______________________..................... $___________
Total ............... $_____________
You may redeem at any time before March thirty-first,
nineteen hundred _______________, by paying the above total less
any unearned interest.
Given under my hand this _________ day of _______________,
19____.
_________________________________________
Clerk of the County Commission
of ___________________ County,
State of West Virginia
(b) The clerk for his or her service in preparing the notice
shall receive a fee of five dollars for the original and one
dollar for each copy required. The clerk shall collect an
additional fee for any costs which must be expended in addition
thereto for publication, or service of such the notice in the
manner provided for serving process commencing a civil action, or
for service of process by certified mail. shall be charged by
the clerk All costs provided by this section shall be included
as redemption costs and included in the notice described herein
required by this subsection.
§11A-3-23. 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 section five of this article, the owner of, or any
other person who was entitled to pay the taxes on, any real
estate for which a tax lien thereon on the real estate was
purchased by an individual may redeem the tax lien at any time
before a tax deed is issued therefor for the real estate. In
order to redeem, he or she must pay to the clerk of the county
commission 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 on the real estate,
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 any additional expenses as may have
been that were incurred, from the first day of April of the first
year following the sheriff's sale to the date of redemption, in
preparing the list of those to be served with notice to redeem
and any title examination incident thereto to the redemption with
interest at the rate of one percent per month from the date of
payment for legal expenses incurred for the services of
attorneys, paralegals or other persons who regularly perform such
services as a standard practice of their employment. but The
amount he shall be required to pay paid, excluding said the interest, for such the expenses incurred for the preparation of
the list of those to be served with notice to redeem required by
section nineteen of this article and any title examination
incident thereto to the redemption, shall not exceed two hundred
dollars; and (4) all additional statutory costs paid by the
purchaser. Where the clerk 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
to the redemption, in the form of receipts or some other form of
evidence thereof of legal expenses incurred for the services of
attorneys, paralegals or other persons who regularly perform such
services as a standard practice of their employment, the person
redeeming shall pay the clerk the sum of two hundred dollars plus
interest thereon at the rate of one percent per month from the
first of April of the first year following the sheriff's sale the
date of the sale for disposition by the sheriff pursuant to the
provisions of sections ten, twenty-four, twenty-five and
thirty-two of this article.
The clerk shall give the person redeeming shall be given the
tax lien a receipt for the payment.
(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 the real estate when it belongs, in whole or in part, to some other
person, shall have a lien on the interest of such the other
person for the amount paid to redeem such the 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 files with
the clerk of the county commission his or her claim in writing
against the owner of such the 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 claim. Such The lien may be enforced as other
judgment liens are enforced.
§11A-3-24. Notice of redemption to purchaser; moneys received by
sheriff.
(a) Upon payment of the sum necessary to redeem, the clerk
shall deliver to the sheriff the redemption money paid and the
name and address of the purchaser or his or her heirs and
assigns. The clerk shall also note the fact of redemption on his
or her record of delinquent lands.
(b) Of the redemption money received by the sheriff pursuant
to this section, the sheriff shall deposit into the sale of tax
lien surplus fund provided by section ten of this article: the
amount thereof equal to (1) The amount of taxes, interest and
charges due on the date of the sale, plus the interest at the
rate of one percent per month thereon from the date of sale to the date of redemption; (2) the amount of any subsequent years'
taxes paid after the sheriff's sale, plus interest at the rate of
one percent per month thereon from the date of payment to the
date of redemption; (3) the amount of any additional expenses
incurred after the first day of April of the first year following
the sheriff's sale in preparing the list of those to be served
with notice to redeem and any title examination prepared, plus
interest at a rate of one percent per month from the date of
payment to the date of redemption; (4) in cases where the clerk
has not received from the purchaser satisfactory proof of such
expenses as indicated in subdivision three of this subsection in
the form of receipts or some other form of evidence of legal
expenses incurred for the services of attorneys, paralegals or
other persons who regularly perform such services as a standard
practice of their employment, the amount of two hundred dollars,
plus interest at the rate of one percent per month from the first
day of April of the first year following the sheriff's sale to
the date of redemption; and (5) any other additional statutory
costs.
§11A-3-25. Distribution of surplus to purchaser.
(a) Where the land has been redeemed in the manner set forth
in section twenty-three of this article, and the clerk has
delivered the redemption money to the sheriff pursuant to section
twenty-four of this article, the sheriff shall, upon delivery of the sum necessary to redeem, promptly notify the purchaser or his
or her heirs or assigns, by mail of the fact of the redemption
and pay to the purchaser or his or her heirs or assigns the
following amounts: (1) From the sale of tax lien surplus fund
provided by section ten of this article: (A) The surplus of
money paid in excess of the amount of the taxes, interest and
charges due and paid to the sheriff at the sale; and (B) the
amount of taxes, interest and charges due on the date of the
sale, plus the interest at the rate of one percent per month from
the date of sale to the date of redemption; (2) all other taxes
thereon or the real estate, which have since been paid by the
purchaser or his or her heirs or assigns, with interest at the
rate of one percent per month from the date of payment; (3) such
any additional expenses as may that have been incurred, from the
first day of April of the first year following the sheriff's sale
to the date of redemption, in preparing the list of those to be
served with notice to redeem and any title examination incident
thereto to the redemption, with interest at the rate of one
percent per month from the date of payment for legal expenses.
but The amount which shall be paid, excluding said the
interest, for such the expenses incurred for the preparation of
the list of those to be served with notice to redeem required by
section nineteen of this article, and any title examination
incident thereto to the redemption, shall may not exceed two hundred dollars; and (4) all additional statutory costs paid by
the purchaser.
(b) (1) The notice shall include:
(A) A copy of the redemption certificate issued by the
county clerk;
(B) An itemized statement of the redemption money to which
the purchaser is entitled pursuant to the provisions of this
section; and
(C) Where, at the time of the redemption, the clerk has not
received from the purchaser satisfactory proof of the expenses
incurred in preparing the list of those to be served with notice
to redeem and any title examination incident thereto to the
redemption, the clerk shall also include instructions to the
purchaser as to how these expenses may be claimed.
(2) Subject to the limitations of this section, the
purchaser is entitled to recover any expenses incurred in
preparing the list of those to be served with notice to redeem
and any title examination incident thereto to the redemption from
the date of the sale first day of April of the first year
following the sheriff's sale to the date of the redemption.
(c) Where, pursuant to section twenty-three of this article,
the clerk has not received from the purchaser satisfactory proof
of the expenses incurred in preparing the list of those to be
served with notice to redeem, and any title examination incident thereto to the redemption, in the form of receipts or other
evidence thereof of the expenses, and therefore received from the
purchaser as required by said section twenty-three of this
article and delivered to the sheriff the sum of two hundred
dollars plus interest thereon at the rate of one percent per
month from the date of the sale first day of April of the first
year following the sheriff's sale to the date of redemption, and
the sheriff has not received from the purchaser such satisfactory
proof of such the expenses within thirty days from the date of
notification, the sheriff shall refund such that amount to the
person redeeming and the purchaser is barred from any claim
thereto to the expenses. Where, pursuant to said section twenty-
three of this article, the clerk has received from the purchaser
and therefore delivered to the sheriff said the sum of two
hundred dollars plus interest thereon at the rate of one percent
per month from the date of the sale first day of April of the
first year following the sheriff's sale to the date of
redemption, and the purchaser provides the sheriff within thirty
days from the date of notification such satisfactory proof of
said the expenses, and the amount of said the expenses is less
than the amount paid by the person redeeming, the sheriff shall
refund the difference to the person redeeming.
NOTE: This bill relates to sheriffs' tax lien sales of
property. The purposes of this bill are:
1. To require the purchaser of any tax lien to pay the
taxes that are currently due, but not yet delinquent, before a
certificate of sale is issued by the sheriff;
2. To require the purchaser of any tax lien to record and
pay an additional $2.00 recording fee only for subsequent taxes
paid after the date of the sheriff's tax sale;
3. To set the date of April 1st of the year following the
sheriff's sale before any charges can be made for lien searches
and preparing a list of those to be served with a notice to
redeem;
4. To provide a grace period for the sheriff to publish a
list of real estate sold at the sheriff's sale, and for the owner
of the property to redeem the property without paying the fees
for legal expenses and notice to redeem expenses; and
5. To clarify the standard notice to redeem forms; and the
definition of those persons for whose services for list
preparation and title examination the purchaser can be
reimbursed.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.