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H.B. 133

             1     

PROPERTY TAX SALES REVISIONS

             2     
2013 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Chief Sponsor: Earl D. Tanner

             5     
Senate Sponsor: ____________

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill amends provisions addressing the redemption of property from a tax sale.
             10      Highlighted Provisions:
             11          This bill:
             12          .    extends the time period for redeeming property from a tax sale;
             13          .    provides that a county auditor may not take certain actions before the expiration of
             14      the time period for redeeming property; and
             15          .    makes technical and conforming changes.
             16      Money Appropriated in this Bill:
             17          None
             18      Other Special Clauses:
             19          This bill takes effect on January 1, 2014.
             20      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             21      AMENDS:
             22          59-2-1346, as last amended by Laws of Utah 1995, Chapter 181
             23          59-2-1351.1, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2000, Chapter 75
             24          59-2-1351.3, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2000, Chapter 75
             25     
             26      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             27          Section 1. Section 59-2-1346 is amended to read:


             28           59-2-1346. Redemption -- Time allowed -- Procedures.
             29          (1) (a) Property may be redeemed on behalf of the record owner by any person at any
             30      time [prior to] no later than 180 days after the tax sale, which shall be held:
             31          (i) in May or June as provided in Section 59-2-1351 [following the lapse of four years
             32      from]; and
             33          (ii) after a four-year period that begins on the date the property tax became delinquent.
             34          (b) A person may redeem property by paying to the county treasury all delinquent
             35      taxes, interest, penalties, and administrative costs that have accrued on the property.
             36          (2) At any time prior to the expiration of the period of redemption described in
             37      Subsection (1)(a), the county treasurer shall accept and credit on account for the redemption of
             38      property, payments in amounts of not less than $10, except for the final payment, which may be
             39      in any amount.
             40          (3) For the purpose of computing the amount required for redemption and for the
             41      purpose of distributing the payments received on account, all payments shall be applied in the
             42      following order until the full amount of the delinquent taxes, penalties, administrative costs,
             43      and interest on the unpaid balances are paid within the period of redemption described in
             44      Subsection (1)(a):
             45          (a) against the interest and administrative costs accrued on the delinquent tax for the
             46      last year included in the delinquent account at the time of payment;
             47          (b) against the penalty charged on the delinquent tax for the last year included in the
             48      delinquent account at the time of payment;
             49          (c) against the delinquent tax for the last year included in the delinquent account at the
             50      time of payment; and
             51          (d) against the interest and administrative costs accrued on the delinquent tax for the
             52      next to last year included in the delinquent account at the time of payment[;].
             53          [(e) and so on until the full amount of the delinquent taxes, penalties, administrative
             54      costs, and interest on the unpaid balances are paid within the period of redemption.]
             55          Section 2. Section 59-2-1351.1 is amended to read:
             56           59-2-1351.1. Tax sale -- Combining certain parcels -- Acceptable bids -- Deeds.
             57          (1) (a) At the time specified in the notice the auditor shall:
             58          (i) attend at the place appointed, offer for sale, and sell all real property for which an


             59      acceptable bid is made; and
             60          (ii) refuse to offer a parcel of real property for sale if the description of the real
             61      property is so defective as to convey no title.
             62          (b) The auditor may post at the place of sale a copy of the published list of real
             63      property to be offered and cry the sale by reference to the list rather than crying each parcel
             64      separately.
             65          (2) (a) The tax commission shall establish, by rule, minimum procedural standards
             66      applicable to tax sales.
             67          (b) For matters not addressed by commission rules, the county legislative body, upon
             68      recommendation by the county auditor, shall establish procedures, by ordinance, for the sale of
             69      the delinquent property that best protect the financial interest of the delinquent property owner
             70      and meet the needs of local governments to collect delinquent property taxes due.
             71          (3) The county governing body may authorize the auditor to combine for sale two or
             72      more contiguous parcels owned by the same party when:
             73          (a) the parcels are a single economic or functional unit;
             74          (b) the combined sale will best protect the financial interests of the delinquent property
             75      owner; and
             76          (c) separate sales will reduce the economic value of the unit.
             77          (4) The governing body may accept any of the following bids:
             78          (a) the highest bid amount for the entire parcel of property, however, a bid may not be
             79      accepted for an amount which is insufficient to pay the taxes, penalties, interest, and
             80      administrative costs; or
             81          (b) a bid in an amount sufficient to pay the taxes, penalties, interest, and administrative
             82      costs, for less than the entire parcel.
             83          (i) The bid which shall be accepted shall be the bid of the bidder who will pay in cash
             84      the full amount of the taxes, penalties, interest, and administrative costs for the smallest portion
             85      of the entire parcel.
             86          (ii) The county auditor at the tax sale or the county legislative body following the tax
             87      sale shall reject a bid to purchase a strip of property around the entire perimeter of the parcel,
             88      or a bid to purchase a strip of the parcel which would prevent access to the remainder of the
             89      parcel by the redemptive owner or otherwise unreasonably diminish the value of that


             90      remainder.
             91          (iii) If the bid accepted is for less than the entire parcel, the auditor shall note the fact,
             92      with a description of the property covered by the bid, upon the tax sale record and the balance
             93      of the parcel not affected by the bid shall be considered to have been redeemed by the owner.
             94          (5) The county legislative body may decide that none of the bids are acceptable.
             95          (6) Once the county auditor has [closed the sale of a particular parcel of property as a
             96      result of accepting] accepted a bid on the parcel, the successful bidder or purchaser of the
             97      property may not unilaterally rescind the bid. The county legislative body, after acceptance of
             98      a bid, may enforce the terms of the bid by obtaining a legal judgment against the purchaser in
             99      the amount of the bid, plus interest and attorneys' fees.
             100          (7) A county auditor may not close a sale under this section before the expiration of the
             101      time period prescribed by Section 59-2-1346 for redeeming property.
             102          [(7)] (8) Any sale funds which are in excess of the amount required to satisfy the
             103      delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and administrative costs of the delinquent property shall be
             104      treated as unclaimed property under Title 67, Chapter 4a, Unclaimed Property Act.
             105          [(8)] (9) All money received upon the sale of property made under this section shall be
             106      paid into the county treasury, and the treasurer shall settle with the taxing entities as provided
             107      in Section 59-2-1366 .
             108          [(9)] (10) (a) The county auditor shall, after acceptance by the county governing body,
             109      and in the name of the county, execute deeds conveying in fee simple all property sold at the
             110      public sale to the purchaser and attest this with the auditor's seal. Deeds issued by the county
             111      auditor under this section shall recite the following:
             112          (i) the total amount of all the delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and administrative
             113      costs which were paid in for the execution and delivery of the deed;
             114          (ii) the year for which the property was assessed, the year the property became
             115      delinquent, and the year the property was subject to tax sale;
             116          (iii) a full description of the property; and
             117          (iv) the name of the grantee.
             118          (b) When the deed is executed and delivered by the auditor, it shall be prima facie
             119      evidence of the regularity of all proceedings subsequent to the date the taxes initially became
             120      delinquent and of the conveyance of the property to the grantee in fee simple.


             121          (c) The deed issued by the county auditor under this section shall be recorded by the
             122      county recorder.
             123          (d) The fee for the recording shall be included in the administrative costs of the sale.
             124          (e) The deed shall be substantially in the following form:
             125     
TAX DEED

             126      ____ County, a body corporate and politic of the state of Utah, grantor, hereby conveys to
             127      ____, grantee, of ____ the following described real estate in ____ County, Utah:
             128     
(Here describe the property conveyed)

             129          This conveyance is made in consideration of payment by the grantee of $____,
             130      representing the total amount owing for delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, and administrative
             131      costs constituting a charge against the real property for nonpayment of general taxes assessed
             132      against it for the years ____ through ____ in the sum of $____.
             133          Dated __________(month\day\year).
             134          (Auditor's Seal)
             135     
County _______________

             136     
By _______________

             137     
County Auditor

             138          Section 3. Section 59-2-1351.3 is amended to read:
             139           59-2-1351.3. No purchaser at tax sale -- Property struck off to county.
             140          (1) [Any] Subject to Subsection (2), any property offered for sale for which there is no
             141      purchaser shall be struck off to the county by the county auditor, who shall then:
             142          (a) publicly declare substantially as follows: "All property here offered for sale which
             143      has not been struck off to a private purchaser is hereby struck off and sold to the county of
             144      ____ (naming the county), and I hereby declare the fee simple title of the property to be vested
             145      in the county";
             146          (b) make an endorsement opposite each of the entries in the delinquency tax sale record
             147      described in Section 59-2-1338 substantially as follows: "The fee simple title to the property
             148      described in this entry in the year of ____, sold and conveyed to the county of ____ in payment
             149      of general taxes charged against the property"; and
             150          (c) sign the auditor's name to the record.
             151          (2) Property offered for sale for which there is no purchaser may not be struck off to


             152      the county by the county auditor before the expiration of the time period prescribed by Section
             153      59-2-1346 for redeeming the property.
             154          [(2)] (3) The fee simple title to the property shall then vest in the county.
             155          [(3)] (4) (a) After following the procedures in Subsection (1), the auditor shall deposit
             156      the tax sale record with the county recorder.
             157          (b) The record described in Subsection (4)(a) shall become a part of the official records
             158      of the recorder and is considered to have been recorded by the recorder.
             159          [(4)] (5) The recorder shall make the necessary entries in the index, abstract record, and
             160      plat book showing the conveyance of all property sold and conveyed to the county pursuant to
             161      this section.
             162          Section 4. Effective date.
             163          This bill takes effect on January 1, 2014.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 2-12-13 8:35 AM


Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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