H. B. 2097
(By Delegate R. M. Thompson)
[Introduced February 9, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
FN
A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-23 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to redemption of real estate; and
providing that a person sixty-five years of age or older may
redeem real estate owned by him or her by paying the
delinquent taxes without paying other costs or liens, if the
owner redeems the real estate within two years after the taxes
become delinquent.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11A-3-23 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SALE OF TAX LIENS AND NONENTERED, ESCHEATED AND WASTE
AND UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS.
§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 was purchased by an individual may redeem at any
time before a tax deed is issued for the real estate. In order to
redeem, he or she shall 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 at the rate
of one percent per month from the date of sale; (2) all other taxes
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) any additional expenses incurred from the
first day of January of the year following the sheriff's sale to
the date of redemption for the preparation of 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 for reasonable legal expenses incurred for the
services of an attorney who has performed an examination of the
title to the real estate and rendered a written opinion and
certification thereon:
Provided, That the amount he or she
shall
be is required to pay, excluding the interest, for 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 performed,
shall may 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, in the
form of receipts or other evidence of legal expenses incurred as
provided in section nineteen of this article, the person redeeming
shall pay the clerk the sum of two hundred dollars plus interest at
the rate of one percent per month from the first day of January of
the year following the sheriff's sale for disposition by the
sheriff pursuant to the provisions of sections ten, twenty-four,
twenty-five and thirty-two of this article.
The person redeeming shall
be given receive 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 the real estate
when it belongs, in whole or in part, to some other person, shall
have a lien on the interest of that other person for the amount
paid to redeem the interest. He or she shall lose his or her right
to the lien, however, unless within thirty days after payment he or
she files with the clerk of the county commission his or her claim
in writing against the owner of 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 claim. The lien may be enforced as other judgment liens
are enforced.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, real property subject to a tax lien or purchased by an
individual other than the owner through a sheriff's sale may be
redeemed by an owner, sixty-five years of age or older at the time
the taxes on his or her property became delinquent, if the owner
redeems the property within two years after the property became
delinquent.
The sheriff shall provide written notice of the provisions of
this section to any person seeking to purchase real estate at a
sheriff's sale as provided by this article. Any deed issued to a
purchaser of real estate sold by the sheriff for delinquent taxes
which is owned by a person sixty-five years of age or older when
the taxes became delinquent is void and unenforceable from and
after the time real estate is redeemed by the owner. In addition,
any lien on the real estate held by any purchaser at a tax sale is
released and the owner sixty-five years of age or older when the
taxes became delinquent is exempt from any costs, except for the
payment of the delinquent taxes, including any costs incurred by
the sheriff in the sale of the real estate for delinquent taxes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a person
sixty-five years of age or older may redeem real estate owned by
him or her by paying the delinquent taxes without other costs or
liens, if the owner redeems the real estate within two years after
the taxes become delinquent.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.