HB 1420 -- Sale of Land for Delinquent Taxes

Sponsor:  Franz

This bill changes the laws regarding the sale of real property
for the collection of delinquent taxes.  The 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.  The first notice is to be 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 is
required to the owner of record and the occupant of the real
property if the second notice is returned unsigned.

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 bill 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 or federal liens.  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 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
certified 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.

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