HCS HB 1420 -- COLLECTION OF DELINQUENT PROPERTY TAXES

SPONSOR:  Sutherland (Franz)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Ways and
Means by a vote of 12 to 0.

This substitute changes the laws regarding the sale of real
property for the collection of delinquent taxes.  A county
collector is required to send up to three notices to the publicly
recorded owner of record of the real property prior to the
publishing of a tax sale with the first notice being by first
class mail.  If the assessed valuation of the property is greater
than $1,000, a second notice must be sent by certified mail.  A
third notice by first class mail is required to be sent to the
owner of record and the occupant of the real property if the
second notice is returned unsigned.

A collector of revenue or other collection authority may refuse
to accept a delinquent tax payment submitted without a copy of
the tax statement.

If the county collector determines that an adequate legal
description of tax sale property cannot be obtained from
documents available through the recorder of deeds, the collector
may commission a professional land surveyor to prepare an
adequate legal description of the property.  Costs of the survey
will be taxed as part of the sale costs.  The assessed valuation
of property that can be listed without a legal description or the
name of the record owner is increased from $500 to $1,000.

The certificate of purchase will be conveyed to an agent if the
purchaser is a nonresident, and the agent must convey the
property to the nonresident.  The substitute requires that the
highest bid at a sale on the third successive year must be at
least equal to the sum of the delinquent taxes, interest,
penalties, and costs as it is required when it was initially
offered and at the second successive year it was offered.  After
the third offering, the collector's deed or trustee's deed will
have priority over all the other liens or encumbrances on the
property sold except for real property taxes.  The purchaser is
required to pay a fee to the collector to record the certificate
of purchase in the office of the county recorder.

If the delinquent land tax sale results in an amount greater than
the amount of debt, taxes, interest, and costs, the excess
proceeds must be held in trust in the county treasury for three
years for the publicly recorded owner or owners of the property
sold or their legal representatives.  After three years, any
amount not called for will be deposited into the county's school
fund.

The redemption periods for the owner of record to redeem tax sale
property are revised; and the owner must reimburse the purchaser
for all costs of the sale including the cost for recording the
certificate of purchase, the fee to record the release of the
certificate, the cost of the title search and the required mail
notifications, interest at the rate specified on the certificate,
and any taxes paid by the purchaser plus 8% interest.

Within 120 days prior to receiving a collector's deed, a tax sale
purchaser must obtain a title search report from a licensed
attorney or title company detailing the ownership and
encumbrances on the property.  Requirements for service of the 90
days' notice of the right of redemption that a tax sale purchaser
must send to the owner of record and other persons who hold
publicly recorded claims on the property are revised.  The
contents of the affidavit that a tax sale purchaser must provide
to the collector before receiving a collector's deed to the
property are revised to include the required title search and the
90 days' notice service requirements.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and
FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill provides needed
technical changes due to some court cases to clarify the tax sale
process and penalties and interest charged for delinquencies.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Franz; and Missouri
County Collectors' Association.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:10 pm