H. B. 2947
(By Delegates Hamilton, Stemple, H. White,
Schadler, Sobonya, Ellem, Poling and Crosier)
[Introduced March 9, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-2 and §11A-3-4 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring
payments for delinquent real estate taxes submitted fourteen
days prior to the date of the sheriff's sale, be made by
cashiers check, money order, certified check or United States
currency.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11A-3-2 and §11A-3-4
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-3-2. Second publication of list of delinquent real estate;
notice.
(a) On or before the tenth day of September of each year, the
sheriff shall prepare a second list of delinquent lands, which shall include all real estate in his or her county remaining
delinquent as of the first day of September, together with a notice
of sale, in form or effect as follows:
Notice is hereby given that tax liens for the following
described tracts or lots of land or undivided interests therein in
the County of ________________ which are delinquent for the
nonpayment of taxes for the year (or years) 19 20____, will be
offered for sale by the undersigned sheriff (or collector) at
public auction at the front door of the courthouse of the county,
between the hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon,
on the _____ day of _________________, 19 20
____.
Tax liens on each unredeemed tract or lot, or each unredeemed
part thereof or undivided interest therein, will be sold at public
auction to the highest bidder in an amount which shall not be less
than the taxes, interest and charges which shall be due thereon to
the date of sale, as set forth in the following table:
Name of person
charged with
taxes
|
Quantity of
land
|
Local
description
|
Total amount
of taxes,
interest and
charges due to
date of sale
|
|
|
|
|
Any of the aforesaid tracts or lots, or part thereof or an
undivided interest therein, may be redeemed by the payment to the undersigned sheriff (or collector) before sale, of the total amount
of taxes, interest and charges due thereon up to the date of
redemption.
Payments received fourteen business days prior to the
date of sale must be paid by certified check or United States
currency.
Given under my hand this _____________ day of
_____________________, 19 20
_____.
__________________________
Sheriff (or collector).
The sheriff shall publish the list and notice prior to the
sale date fixed in the notice 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.
(b) In addition to such publication, no less than thirty days
prior to the sale the sheriff shall send a notice of the
delinquency and the date of sale by certified mail: (1) To the
last known address of each person listed in the land books whose
taxes are delinquent; (2) to each person having a lien on real
property upon which the taxes are due as disclosed by a statement
filed with the sheriff pursuant to the provisions of section three
of this article; (3) to each other person with an interest in the
property or with a fiduciary relationship to a person with an
interest in the property who has in writing delivered to the sheriff on a form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner a request for
such notice of delinquency; and (4) in the case of property which
includes a mineral interest but does not include an interest in the
surface other than an interest for the purpose of developing the
minerals, to each person who has in writing delivered to the
sheriff, on a form prescribed by the Tax Commissioner, a request
for such notice which identifies the person as an owner of an
interest in the surface of real property that is included in the
boundaries of such property:
Provided, That in a case where one
owner owns more than one parcel of real property upon which taxes
are delinquent, the sheriff may, at his option, mail separate
notices to the owner and each lienholder for each parcel or may
prepare and mail to the owner and each lienholder a single notice
which pertains to all such delinquent parcels. If the sheriff
elects to mail only one notice, that notice shall set forth a
legally sufficient description of all parcels of property on which
taxes are delinquent. In no event shall failure to receive the
mailed notice by the landowner or lienholder affect the validity of
the title of the property conveyed if it is conveyed pursuant to
section twenty-seven or fifty-nine of this article.
(c) (1) To cover the cost of preparing and publishing the
second delinquent list, a charge of twelve dollars and fifty cents
shall be added to the taxes, interest and charges already due on
each item and all such charges shall be stated in the list as a part of the total amount due.
(2) To cover the cost of preparing and mailing notice to the
landowner, lienholder or any other person entitled thereto pursuant
to this section, a charge of five dollars per addressee shall be
added to the taxes, interest and charges already due on each item
and all such charges shall be stated in the list as a part of the
total amount due.
(d) Any person whose taxes were delinquent on the first day of
September may have his or her name removed from the delinquent list
prior to the time the same is delivered to the newspapers for
publication by paying to the sheriff the full amount of taxes and
costs owed by the person at the date of such redemption. In such
case, the sheriff shall include but three dollars of the costs
provided in this section in making such redemption. Costs
collected by the sheriff hereunder which are not expended for
publication and mailing shall be paid into the general county fund.
§11A-3-4. Redemption after second publication and before sale.
Any of the real estate included in the list published pursuant
to the provisions of section two of this article may be redeemed at
any time before sale as provided in section eighteen, article two
of this chapter.
All payments for delinquent real estate taxes
received fourteen business days prior to the date of sale must be
paid by cashier check, money order, certified check or United
States currency.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require payments for
delinquent real estate taxes submitted fourteen days prior to the
date of the sheriff's sale, be made by cashiers check, money order,
certified check or United States currency.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.