§11A-3-16. Subsequent tax payments by purchaser.
Any person who has paid any subsequent taxes, other than the
subsequent taxes paid on the date of the sale as 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 the certificate and copies of
paid tax receipts to the clerk of the county commission State
Auditor, who shall endorse the amount of the subsequent taxes and
the date of payment of the taxes in his or her records upon the
payment to the clerk State Auditor of a fee for the endorsement in
the amount of two ten dollars.
§11A-3-18. Limitations on tax certificates.
(a) No lien upon real property evidenced by a tax certificate
of sale issued by a sheriff on account of any delinquent property
taxes may remain a lien thereon for a period longer than eighteen
months after the original issuance thereof.
(b) All rights of a purchaser shall be deemed forfeited and
expired and no tax deed is to be issued on any tax sale evidenced
by a tax certificate of sale where the certificate has ceased to be a lien pursuant to the provisions of this section and application
for the tax deed, pursuant to the provisions of section
twenty-seven of this article, is not pending at the time of the
expiration of the limitation period provided for in this section.
(c) Whenever a lien evidenced by a tax certificate of sale has
expired by reason of the provisions of this section, the county
clerk State Auditor shall immediately issue and record a
certificate of cancellation describing the real estate included in
the certificate of purchase or tax certificate and giving the date
of cancellation and the clerk shall also make proper entries in his
or her records. The clerk State Auditor shall also present a copy
of every such certificate of cancellation to the sheriff who shall
enter the same in the sheriff's records and the certificate and the
record are prima facie evidence of the cancellation of the
certificate of sale and of the release of the lien of the
certificate on the lands therein described. Failure to record the
certificate of cancellation does not extend the lien evidenced by
the certificate of sale. The sheriff and county clerk State
Auditor are not entitled to any fees for the issuing of the
certificate of cancellation nor for the entries in their books made
under the provisions of this subsection.
§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 of the year following the sheriff's sale, and on or before the
thirty-first day of December 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 clerk State Auditor to prepare and serve the notice as
provided in sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this article; (2)
provide the clerk State Auditor with a list of any additional
expenses incurred after the first day of January 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 a written opinion and certification thereon; (3)
deposit, or offer to deposit, with the clerk State Auditor a sum
sufficient to cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice;
and (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 State Auditor. For failure to meet these requirements,
the purchaser 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 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 county clerk under the seal of the county 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-3-20. Refund to purchaser of payment made at sheriff's sale
where property is subject of an erroneous assessment
or is otherwise nonexistent.
If, by the thirty-first day of December of the year following
payment of the amount bid at a sheriff's sale, the purchaser
discovers that the lien purchased at that sale is the subject of an
erroneous assessment or is otherwise nonexistent, the purchaser
shall submit the abstract or certificate of an attorney at law that
the property is the subject of an erroneous assessment or is otherwise nonexistent. Upon receipt of the abstract or
certificate, the sheriff shall cause the moneys so paid to be
refunded. Upon refund, the sheriff shall inform the assessor and
the State Auditor of the erroneous assessment for the purpose of
having the assessor correct the error. For failure to meet this
requirement, the purchaser shall lose all benefits of his or her
purchase.
§11A-3-21. Notice to redeem.
Whenever the provisions of section nineteen of this article
have been complied with, the clerk of the county commission State
Auditor shall 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 20 , 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 20 , 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 20 , ...... $_______
Amount of subsequent years taxes paid on the property, since
the sale, with interest to March 31, 19 20 , ........ $_________
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 January 1, 19 20 , (insert year) following
the sheriff's sale to March 31, 19 20 , $__________
Amount paid for other statutory costs (describe)
_____________________ $___________
Total ................. $_____________
You may redeem at any time before March thirty-first, nineteen
hundred two thousand _______________, by paying the above total
less any unearned interest.
Given under my hand this ______ day of __________,19 20 .
_________________________________________
Clerk of the county commission
of ___________________ County,
State of West Virginia
The clerk State Auditor for his or her service in preparing
the notice shall receive a fee of five ten dollars for the original
and one dollar two dollars for each copy required. Any additional
costs which must be expended for publication, or service of 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 State Auditor. All costs provided by this
section shall be included as redemption costs and included in the
notice described in this section.
§11A-3-22. Service of notice.
As soon as the clerk State Auditor has prepared the notice
provided for in section twenty-one of this article, he or she shall
cause it to be served upon all persons named on the list generated
by the purchaser pursuant to the provisions of section nineteen of
this article.
The notice shall be served upon all such persons residing or
found in the state in the manner provided for serving process
commencing a civil action or by certified mail, return receipt
requested. The notice shall be served on or before the thirtieth
day following the request for such notice.
If any person entitled to notice is a nonresident of this
state, whose address is known to the purchaser, he or she shall be
served at such address by certified mail, return receipt requested.
If the address of any person entitled to notice, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, is unknown to the purchaser
and cannot be discovered by due diligence on the part of the
purchaser, the notice shall be served by publication as a Class
III-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication
area for such publication shall be the county in which such real
estate is located. If service by publication is necessary,
publication shall be commenced when personal service is required as
set forth above, and a copy of the notice shall at the same time be
sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known
address of the person to be served. The return of service of such
notice and the affidavit of publication, if any, shall be in the
manner provided for process generally and shall be filed and
preserved by the clerk State Auditor in his or her office, together
with any return receipts for notices sent by certified mail.
§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 State Auditor 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 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 not exceed two hundred dollars; and
(4) all additional statutory costs paid by the purchaser. Where
the clerk State Auditor 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 State Auditor 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 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.
§11A-3-24. Notice of redemption to purchaser; moneys received by
sheriff.
(a) Upon payment of the sum necessary to redeem, the clerk State Auditor shall deliver to the sheriff the redemption money
paid and the name and address of the purchaser, his or her heirs
and assigns. The clerk State Auditor 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 an amount
equal to 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, the amount of the
subsequent years taxes paid the day of or 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, the amount of any
additional expenses incurred after the first day of January of the
year following the sheriff's sale for the preparation of the list
of those to be served with notice to redeem and any examination of
title performed and certified pursuant to the provisions of section
nineteen of this article, plus interest at a rate of one percent
per month from the date of payment to the date of redemption. In
cases where the clerk State Auditor has not received from the
purchaser satisfactory proof of additional expenses incurred after
the first day of January of the year following the sheriff's sale
as provided in section twenty-three of this article, the sheriff
shall deposit the money received in the sale of tax lien surplus fund provided by section ten of this article.
§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 State
Auditor 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, his or her heirs or assigns, by mail, of the fact of the
redemption and pay to the purchaser, 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 on the land 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 to the date of redemption; (3) any additional expenses that
may have been incurred from the first day of January of the 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 performed in accordance with section nineteen of this
article with interest at the rate of one percent per month from the date of payment, but the amount which shall be paid, 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 shall 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 State Auditor;
(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 State
Auditor 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 performed in
accordance with section nineteen of this article, the clerk State
Auditor 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 from the first day of January of the
year following the sheriff's sale to the date of the sale to the date of the redemption.
(c) Where, pursuant to section twenty-three of this article,
the clerk State Auditor 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, in the form of receipts or other
evidence and therefore received from the purchaser as required by
that section and delivered to the sheriff 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 to
the date of the sale to the date of redemption, and the sheriff has
not received from the purchaser satisfactory proof of the expenses
within thirty days from the date of notification, the sheriff shall
refund the amount to the person redeeming and the purchaser is
barred from any claim. Where, pursuant to that section, the clerk
State Auditor has received from the purchaser and therefore
delivered to the sheriff 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 to the date of the
sale to the date of redemption, and the purchaser provides the
sheriff within thirty days from the date of notification
satisfactory proof of the expenses, and the amount of the expenses
is less than the amount paid by the person redeeming, the sheriff
shall refund the difference to the person redeeming.