Senate Bill No. 403
(By Senator Craigo)
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[Introduced February 5, 1998; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections fourteen, sixteen, nineteen,
twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five,
article three, chapter eleven-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to sheriff's tax lien sales; permitting the
sheriff to require the purchaser of any tax lien to pay the
current taxes before a certificate of sale is issued;
extending the time limit before charges attach for lien
searches and preparation of notices to redeem after the
publication of the sheriff's sale list; and requiring the
purchaser of a tax lien to furnish the person redeeming the
property with a copy of the title examination.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections fourteen, sixteen, nineteen, twenty-one,
twenty-three, twenty-four and twenty-five, article three, chapter eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.
§11A-3-14. Purchase by individual at tax sale; certificate of
sale.
(a) If any person, being the highest bidder present at the
sale provided for in section five of this article, bids and pays
at least the amount of taxes, interest and charges for which the
tax lien on any real estate is offered for sale, the sheriff
shall issue to him or her a certificate of sale for the purchase
money, except the sheriff may require payment of any subsequent
taxes due at the time of the sale before a certificate of sale is
issued. The heading of the certificate shall be:
Memorandum of tax lien on real estate sold in the county of
on this day of , 19
, for the nonpayment of taxes charged thereon for the year (or
years) 19 .
Except for the heading, the tax commissioner shall prescribe
the form of the receipt.
(b) The certificate of sale shall describe the real estate
subject to the tax lien that was sold, the total amount of all
taxes, interest, penalties and costs paid for each lot or tract, and the rate of interest to which the purchaser shall be is
entitled upon redemption. The certificate shall also set forth
columns for the entry of subsequent years taxes and costs that
may be required by the sheriff to be paid on the date of the
sale, and for the entry of subsequent taxes and costs paid. For
each certificate so delivered, the purchaser shall pay a fee of
ten dollars, and such that amount shall be included in the costs
described therein in the certificate.
§11A-3-16. Subsequent tax payments by purchaser.
Any person who has paid any subsequent taxes, other than
subsequent taxes paid on the date of the sale 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 such the certificate and
copies of paid tax receipts to the clerk of the county
commission, who shall endorse the amount of such the
subsequent
taxes and the date of payment thereof of the taxes in his or her
records upon the payment to the clerk of a fee therefor for the
endorsement in the amount of two dollars.
§11A-3-19. What purchaser must do before he can secure deed.
(a) At any time after the thirty-first day
of October
thirty-first
thirty-first
(2) (3)
deposit, or offer to deposit, with the clerk a sum sufficient to
cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice; and (3) (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. 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 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 therein in the land sold for
delinquent taxes, or any assignment thereof, of the lien is lost
or wrongfully withheld from the rightful owner thereof of the
land and such the land or interest has not been redeemed, the
county commission may receive evidence of such the loss or
wrongful detention and, upon satisfactory proof of such that
fact, may cause a certificate of such the
proof and finding,
properly attested by the county clerk under the seal of the
county, to be delivered to such the
rightful claimant, and a
record thereof of the certificate shall be duly made by the
county clerk in the recorded proceedings of the commission.
§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 shall
thereupon 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___ , has requested that you be notified that a
deed for such real estate will be made to him on or after the
first day of April, 19 , 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__ ........$__________
Amount of subsequent years taxes paid on the property, since
the sale, with interest to March 31, 19__
.......................... $___________
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 (insert year following the
sheriff' sale to March 31, 19__ ......................
$__________
Amount paid for other statutory costs
(describe)_____________________________________________________ ________________________________________.....................
$___________
Total ............... $_____________
You may redeem at any time before March thirty-first,
nineteen hundred _______________, by paying the above total less
any unearned interest.
Given under my hand this _________ day of _________________
, 19____.
_________________________________________
Clerk of the County Commission
of____________________ County,
State of West Virginia
The clerk for his
or her
service in preparing the notice
shall receive a fee of five dollars for the original and one
dollar for each copy required. Any additional costs which must
be expended in addition thereto for publication, or service of
such 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. All costs provided by this
section shall be included as redemption costs and included in the
notice described herein in this section.
§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
therefor for the real estate. In order to redeem, he or she must
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 thereon at the rate of
one percent per month from the date of sale; (2) all other taxes
thereon, 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) such any additional expenses
as that may have been incurred from the first day of January of
the first 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 incident thereto, with
interest at the rate of one percent per month from the date of
payment, but the amount he or she shall be required to pay,
excluding said the interest, for such 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, incident thereto, shall 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 thereof, which shall
include a copy of any title examination and other work performed,
the person redeeming shall pay the clerk the sum of two hundred
dollars plus interest thereon at the rate of one percent per
month from the date of the sale first day of January of the first
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 such
the
real
estate when it belongs, in whole or in part, to some other
person, shall have a lien on the interest of such
that
other
person for the amount paid to redeem such
the
interest. He
or
she
shall lose his
or her
right to the lien, however, unless
within thirty days after payment he
or she
shall file files with
the clerk of the county commission his
or her
claim in writing
against the owner of such
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 same claim. Such 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
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 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 the an
amount thereof 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 thereon from the date of sale to the date of
redemption; the amount of any 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 first year following the
sheriff's sale in preparing the list of those to be served with
notice to redeem and any examination of title, 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 has not received
from the purchaser satisfactory proof of additional expenses
incurred after the first day of January of the first year
following the sheriff's sale in preparing the list of those to be
served with notice to redeem and any examination of title
thereof, which shall include a copy of any title examination and
other work performed, the amount of two hundred dollars, plus
interest at the rate of one percent per month from the first day
of January of the first year following the sheriff's sale to the
date of redemption; and any other additional statutory costs.
§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 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
thereon, 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) such any additional expenses as that may have
been incurred from the first day of January of the first 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 incident thereto, with interest at the
rate of one percent per month from the date of payment, but the
amount which shall be paid, excluding said
the
interest, for such
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 incident thereto, 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;
(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 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, which shall
include a copy of any title examination and other work performed,
the clerk 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 first 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 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 thereof, and
therefore received from the purchaser as required by said that
section and delivered to the sheriff the sum of two hundred
dollars plus interest thereon at the rate of one percent per
month from the first day of January of the first 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
such satisfactory proof of such the expenses within thirty days
from the date of notification, the sheriff shall refund such the amount to the person redeeming and the purchaser is barred from
any claim thereto. Where, pursuant to said that section, the
clerk has received from the purchaser and therefore delivered to
the sheriff said
the
sum of two hundred dollars plus interest
thereon at the rate of one percent per month from the first day
of January of the year first 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 such satisfactory proof of such the expenses, and
the amount of such the expenses is less than the amount paid by
the person redeeming, the sheriff shall refund the difference to
the person redeeming.
NOTE: The purposes of this bill include the following: To
give the sheriff the option of collecting or not collecting taxes
that are currently due, but not subject to the sale, before a
certificate of sale is issued by the sheriff; to set the day of
January 1st of the year following the sheriff's sale before many
charges can be made for lien searches and preparing a list of
those to be served with notice to redeem, allow time for the
sheriff to prepare and publish the list of property sold,
following the sheriff's sale, as required by law; to clarify the
standard notice to redeem forms; and, to provide that a person
redeeming property from a sheriff's tax sale is not required to
pay for expenses incurred by the purchaser in preparing a list of
those to be served with notice to redeem or any title examination
incident thereto, unless he or she is proved with a copy of the
work performed by the person by the purchaser.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
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