COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 504
(By Senator Kessler)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 26, 2004.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11A-3-19, §11A-3-21, §11A-3-22,
§11A-3-23, §11A-3-24, §11A-3-25, §11A-3-46 and §11A-3-55 of
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to
changing various monthly dates involving the statutory
redemption process for real property that has been sold as the
result of delinquent taxes; changing the publication
requirement for notice to persons who last owned real property
sold due to delinquent taxes from Class III to Class II-0;
changing the publication requirement of notice of auction from
Class III to Class II-0; and changing publication requirement
of notice to redeem from Class III to Class II-0.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11A-3-19, §11A-3-21, §11A-3-22, §11A-3-23, §11A-3-24,
§11A-3-25, §11A-3-46 and §11A-3-55
of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SALE OF TAX LIENS AND NONENTERED, ESCHEATED AND WASTE
AND UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS.
§11A-3-19. What purchaser must do before he 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 to prepare and serve the notice as provided in
sections twenty-one and twenty-two of this article; (2) provide the
clerk with a list of any additional expenses incurred after the
first day of January October 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 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. 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 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, 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-3-21. Notice to redeem.
Whenever the provisions of section nineteen of this article
have been complied with, the clerk of the county commission 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 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 October 1, 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 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
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. 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 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 Class II-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 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
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 October 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 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 the sum of two hundred dollars plus interest at
the rate of one percent per month from the first day of January
October 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
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 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 October
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 has not received from the
purchaser satisfactory proof of additional expenses incurred after
the first day of January October 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 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 October 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;
(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 performed in accordance with
section nineteen of this article, 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 October
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 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 October 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 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 October 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.
§11A-3-46. Publication of notice of auction.
Once a week for three consecutive weeks prior to the auction
required in the preceding section, the deputy commissioner shall
publish notice of the auction as a Class III-0 Class II-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.
The notice shall be in form or effect as follows:
Notice is hereby given that the following described tracts or
lots of land in the County of ___________, have been certified by
the Auditor of the State of West Virginia to _________________,
Deputy Commissioner of Delinquent and Nonentered Lands of said
County, for sale at public auction. The lands will be offered for
sale by the undersigned deputy commissioner at public auction in
(specify location) the courthouse of ______ County between the
hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon, on the
______ day of _____________, 19 20___.
Each tract or lot as described below will be sold to the
highest bidder. The payment for any tract or lot purchased at a
sale shall be made by check or money order payable to the sheriff
of the county and delivered before the close of business on the day
of the sale. If any of said tracts or lots remain unsold following
the auction, they will be subject to sale by the deputy
commissioner without additional advertising or public auction. The
deputy commissioner sale may include tracts or lots remaining
unsold from a previous auction not required by law to be
readvertised and described for this subsequent auction of those
same tracts and lots. All sales are subject to the approval of the
auditor of the state of West Virginia.
(here insert description of advertised lands to be sold)
Any of the aforesaid tracts or lots may be redeemed by any
person entitled to pay the taxes thereon at any time prior to the sale by payment to the deputy commissioner of the total amount of
taxes, interest and charges due thereon up to the date of
redemption. Lands listed above as escheated or waste and
unappropriated lands may not be redeemed.
Given under my hand this _______ day of ______________,
19
20_____.
_____________________________ Deputy Commissioner of Delinquent and
Nonentered Lands of _____________________ County.
The description of lands required in the notice shall be in
the same form as the list certifying said lands to the deputy
commissioner for sale. If the deputy commissioner is required to
auction lands certified to him in any previous years, pursuant to
section forty-eight of this article, he shall include such lands in
the auction without further advertisement, with reference to the
year of certification and the item number of the tract or interest.
To cover the cost of preparing and publishing the notice, a
charge of thirty dollars shall be added to the taxes, interest and
charges due on the delinquent and nonentered property.
§11A-3-55. Service of notice.
As soon as the deputy commissioner has prepared the notice
provided for in section fifty-four of this article, he shall cause
it to be served upon all persons named on the list generated by the
purchaser pursuant to the provisions of section fifty-two of this
article. Such notice shall be mailed and, if necessary, published
at least thirty days prior to the first day a deed may be issued
following the deputy commissioner's sale.
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 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 Class II-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 auditor in his office, together with any
return receipts for notices sent by certified mail.
__________
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change various monthly
dates involving the statutory redemption process for real property
that has been sold as the result of delinquent taxes. The bill
also changes the publication requirement for notice to persons who
last owned real property sold due to delinquent taxes from Class
III to Class II-0.
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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