Senate Bill No. 509
(By Senators Ross, Hunter, Deem, Love, Kessler, Dempsey and
Snyder)
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[Introduced February 11, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-10 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to surplus being distributed to a
person or persons who owned the property at the time of the
sale, or the heirs, devisees, legatees, executors,
administrators, successors or assigns thereof when there has
been no redemption; and time for filing a claim.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11A-3-10 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-3-10. Sheriff to account for proceeds; disposition of
surplus.
(a) The sheriff shall account for the proceeds of all sales and redemptions included in such list in the same way he
or she
accounts for other taxes collected by him
or her, except that if
the purchase money paid for any property sold is in excess of the
amount of taxes, interest and charges due thereon, the surplus
shall be deposited in a special county fund to be known and
designated as the "sale of tax lien surplus fund". Where there is
a redemption after the sale, the sheriff shall also deposit into
said the fund 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, described in
subdivision (2), subsection (b), section twenty-four of this
article.
Such Any surplus shall be disposed of as follows:
(1) In any case where the property was redeemed,
such the
surplus shall be distributed to the person or persons who purchased
the tax lien thereon or the heirs, devisees, legatees, executors,
administrators, successors or assigns thereof.
(2) If there was no redemption, the surplus shall be
distributed to the person or persons who owned the property at the
time of the sale or the heirs, devisees, legatees, executors,
administrators, successors or assigns thereof if a proper claim
therefor is filed with the sheriff within three years from and
after the date of the sale; or
(2) (3) If the purchaser, his
or her heirs, devisees,
legatees, executors, administrators, successors or assigns cannot
be found within two years from and after the date of redemption, all claims to
such the surplus
shall be are barred and
such the
surplus shall be distributed by the sheriff in the manner provided
by law for the distribution of property taxes collected by him
or
her.
(b) All real estate included in the first delinquent list sent
to the auditor, and not accounted for in the list of sales,
suspensions, redemptions and certifications,
shall be deemed is
considered to have been redeemed before sale and the taxes,
interest and charges due thereon shall be accounted for by the
sheriff as if they had been received by him
or her before the sale.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the person or
persons who owned the property sold at a sheriff's sale, or their
heirs, devisees, legatees, executors, administrators, successors or
assigns thereof, after filing a proper claim, to receive any
surplus from the sale.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)