Senate Bill No. 667
(By Senators Hunter, Dempsey, Harrison, McKenzie,
Foster and Deem)
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[Introduced February 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §54-1-13, relating to
providing a procedure for selling property that
was acquired
for public use, by eminent domain or otherwise, when the use
is abandoned; giving the original owner of the property, or
the owner's successor in interest, the right to purchase the
property; and providing that an interest, other than a fee
simple interest, reverts to the original owner or the original
owner's successor in interest.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §54-1-13, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1. RIGHT OF EMINENT DOMAIN.
§54-1-13. Sale of property acquired for public use when use
abandoned; procedure; rights of original owner.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
common law, and except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of
this section, whenever a person who has acquired a real property
interest for a public use, whether by right of eminent domain or
otherwise, abandons the public use and places the property interest
for sale, the seller may sell the interest to the highest bidder at
public auction.
(b) If the seller decides to sell an interest in real property
as set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the seller shall
publish notice of the public sale in a newspaper published in the
county in which the real property is located once a week for four
successive weeks. The sale must be held in the county where the
real property is located. The notice shall give the day, date and
time of the beginning of the sale and contain a list of all the
tracts to be offered for sale describing where they are located,
and a description of each parcel to be sold and the appraised value
of each parcel. The notice shall also give the terms and
conditions of sale and any additional information the seller
considers useful.
(c) When an interest, other than a fee simple interest, in
property that has been acquired for a public purpose by right of
eminent domain, or otherwise, is abandoned or when the purpose for
which it was acquired is terminated, the property reverts to the
original owner or the original owner's successor in interest.
(d)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or the
common law and except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the owner from whom the real property interest was
originally acquired by eminent domain or otherwise or the owner's
successor in interest, if there is a successor in interest, shall
be notified by the seller by certified mail and has a thirty-day
option from the date of a sale provided in this section to purchase
the interest by offering an amount of money equal to the highest
bid received for the interest at the sale. If more than one person
claims an equal entitlement, the option may not be exercised.
(2) If bids are not received by the seller and the option
holder indicates in writing to the seller that the option holder
wishes to exercise the option, the seller shall have the real
property interest appraised and sell the interest at that price to
the option holder.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a procedure for
selling property that
was acquired for public use, by eminent
domain or otherwise when the use is abandoned. It give the
original owner of the property, or the owner's successor in
interest, the right to purchase the property.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.