Senate Bill No. 97
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to sale of real estate for back
taxes; and requiring sheriff to post notice on the delinquent
real estate or on improvements on the delinquent real estate.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11A-3-2 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 includes 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) 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 _________________, 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. Payment received within fourteen business days prior
to the date of sale must be paid by cashier check, money order,
certified check or United States currency. Payment must be
received in the tax office by the close of business on the last
business day prior to the sale.
Given under my hand this _____________ day of
_____________________, 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 the
publication
shall be is the county.
In addition, the sheriff shall
post on the door or entrance of any improvement on any delinquent
real estate, or post on a placard pounded into the ground of any
unimproved delinquent real estate the above notice on or before the
tenth day of September of each year.
(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 the 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 the 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 the 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 or her 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 the 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 does 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 twenty-five dollars 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 to the
notice pursuant to this section, a charge of ten 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 the redemption. In
such case, the sheriff shall include but three dollars of the costs
provided in this section in making
such the redemption. Costs
collected by the sheriff
hereunder under this section which are not
expended for publication and mailing shall be paid into the general
county fund.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the sheriff to
post on the door or entrance of any improvement on delinquent real
estate, or post on a placard pounded into the ground of any
unimproved delinquent real estate the above notice on or before the
tenth day of September of each year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.