Bill Text: MS SB2851 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Tax forfeited lands; revise statute of limitations, notice, price and fees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [SB2851 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-SB2851-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Finance; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Kirby, Harkins
Senate Bill 2851
AN ACT RELATING TO THE SALE AND REDEMPTION OF TAX FORFEITED LANDS; TO CLARIFY THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR A PRIOR PROPERTY OWNER TO REGAIN HIS PROPERTY LOST TO TAXES IF THE SALE IS INVALIDATED BY JUDICIAL ACTION; TO CLARIFY THE PERIOD OF TIME IN WHICH NOTICE MUST BE SERVED TO THE PRIOR OWNER OF PENDING TAX SALE; TO INCREASE THE FEE FOR SERVICE OF NOTICE OF TAX SALE TO BE PAID BY THE PROPERTY OWNER UPON REDEMPTION OR BY THE HOLDER OF THE TAX DEED; TO CLARIFY THE PRICE TO BE PAID BY THE PROPERTY OWNER TO THE TAX LIENHOLDER IF THE TAX LIEN IS INVALIDATED BY THE COURTS AND RETURNED TO THE PROPERTY OWNER; TO AMEND SECTIONS 25-7-19, 27-41-55, 27-43-3, 27-45-1, 27-45-17, 27-41-21, 27-45-27 AND 29-1-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-7-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-7-19. (1) The sheriffs of the various counties of the State of Mississippi shall charge the following fees:
(a) A uniform total fee in all criminal and civil cases for the service or attempted service of any process, summons, warrant, writ or other notice as may be required by law or the court, each $ 45.00
(b) In all cases where there is more than one (1) defendant residing at the same household, service on each additional defendant $ 5.00
(c) After final judgment has been enrolled, notice of further proceedings involving levy of execution on judgments, and attachment and garnishment proceedings, shall be deemed a new suit and the sheriff shall be entitled to the
following fee ......................................... $ 45.00
(d) Taking bonds of every kind (for purposes of this fee multiple bonds for criminal charges arising out of a single incident or transaction shall be considered a single
bond)................................................. $ 25.00
(e) Attendance in habeas corpus proceeding in vacation, eminent domain court and commitment cases............... $ 25.00
(f) On all money made by virtue of any decree, execution or attachment, or other process, the following commissions, to wit:
On the first One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), five percent (5%),
On the second One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), four percent (4%),
On all sums over Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), three percent (3%).
(g) For all service of all process of every kind and nature issued from without the county wherein it is to be served, a fee of $ 45.00
(h) For all service of notice to the property of the maturity of a tax lien or the pendency of a tax sale,
a fee of.............................................. $ 100.00
Said fee shall be paid into the General Fund with Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to be used to defray the expenses of the Office of the Sheriff and the remainder to be used for general county purposes.
In civil cases, all process sent out of the county, where issued to another county for service, shall be accompanied by a fee of Forty-five Dollars ($45.00) to pay the sheriff's fee for his execution of such process unless the clerk or justice shall endorse on the process that the party at whose instance it issued had filed an affidavit of inability to pay costs thereof. All fees sent and unearned, and the whole of it, shall be unearned if the writ be not legally and properly executed and returned, and shall be remitted by the sheriff with the writ at his own expense.
(2) (a) The sheriff shall keep a complete account of every fee of every nature, commission or charge collected by him, and shall file an itemized statement thereof monthly, under oath, with the clerk of the board of supervisors of his county who shall preserve same as a part of the records of his office, and he shall make a remittance to the clerk of the board of supervisors of his county on or before the fifteenth of each month for deposit into the general fund of the county of all said fees, commissions and charges collected during the preceding month. A fee for attempted service of process is unearned absent two (2) documented actual attempts to serve the process.
(b) At least Ten Dollars ($10.00) from each fee collected and deposited into the county's general fund under the provisions of paragraphs (a), (c) and (g) of subsection (1) of this section shall be used for the sheriffs' salaries authorized in Section 25-3-25, as such Ten Dollar ($10.00) amount was authorized during the 2007 Regular Session in Chapter 331, Laws of 2007, for the purpose of providing additional monies to the counties for sheriffs' salaries.
(3) Any sheriff who shall knowingly fail to collect any fee established by law which was in fact collectible by him or having collected the fee shall fail to keep account of such fee or fail to deposit the fee with the clerk of the board of supervisors as provided by subsection (2), or such other person or office entitled thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor in office and, upon conviction therefor, shall be fined in an amount not to exceed double the amount he failed to collect or pay over, or imprisoned for not to exceed six (6) months in the county jail, or be punished by both such fine and imprisonment.
This provision shall in no way lessen the sheriff's civil liability on his bond, but shall be an additional penalty for misfeasance or nonfeasance in office.
SECTION 2. Section 27-41-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-41-55. Except as otherwise provided in Sections 27-41-2 and 27-41-59(2), after the fifth day of August in each year hereafter, the tax collector shall advertise all lands in his county on which all the taxes due and in arrears have not been paid, as provided by law, as well as all land which is liable to sale for the other taxes which have matured, as required by law, for sale at the door of the courthouse of his county or any place within the courthouse that the tax collector deems suitable to hold such sale. The place or method of the sale shall be designated by the tax collector in the advertisement of the notice of tax sale on the last Monday of August. If the sale is to be conducted online pursuant to Section 27-41-59(2), the advertisement shall contain instructions on how to bid, including, but not limited to, the times during which online bids may be made at the online sale. The advertisement shall be inserted for two (2) weeks in some newspaper published in the county, if there be one, but in counties having two (2) court districts the lands shall be advertised and sold in the district in which the lands are situated and put up at the courthouse door thereof, or as provided for in Section 27-41-59 for tax sales conducted online, and shall contain a list of the lands to be sold in alphabetical order by owner or in numerical order as they are contained in the assessment roll, in substance as follows:
Name of Division of Town- State County Total
Owner SECTION Section ship Range Tax Tax Tax
or by such other description as it may be assessed. Land in cities and towns shall be described in the advertisement as it is described on the assessment roll. Errors in alphabetical or numerical order in the published or posted list of lands to be sold shall not invalidate any sale made pursuant to the notice.
In addition to the foregoing provisions, and at the option of the tax collector, advertisement for the sale of county lands may be made after the fifteenth day of February in each year with the sale of the lands to be held on the first Monday of April in each year, and all of the provisions which relate to the tax sale held in August of each year shall apply thereto.
In addition to the foregoing provisions, notice to the property owner of the maturity of the tax lien on his property shall commence no earlier than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien, and shall be completed no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien.
SECTION 3. Section 27-43-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-43-3. The clerk shall issue the notice to the sheriff of the county of the reputed owner's residence, if he is a resident of the State of Mississippi, and the sheriff shall be required to serve notice as follows:
(a) Upon the reputed owner personally, if he can be found in the county after diligent search and inquiry, by handing him a true copy of the notice;
(b) If the reputed owner cannot be found in the county after diligent search and inquiry, then by leaving a true copy of the notice at his usual place of abode with the spouse of the reputed owner or some other person who lives at his usual place of abode above the age of sixteen (16) years, and willing to receive the copy of the notice; or
(c) If the reputed owner cannot be found after diligent search and inquiry, and if no person above the age of sixteen (16) years who lives at his usual place of abode can be found at his usual place of abode who is willing to receive the copy of the notice, then by posting a true copy of the notice on a door of the reputed owner's usual place of abode.
The sheriff shall be required to fulfill all three (3) forms of notice prescribed above; however, if two (2) of these three (3) methods are performed as required and the third method is inadvertently not performed, the statutory demands of serving notice shall be met.
The sheriff shall make his return to the chancery clerk issuing the notice. The clerk shall also mail a copy of the notice to the reputed owner at his usual street address, if it can be ascertained after diligent search and inquiry, or to his post-office address if only that can be ascertained, and he shall note such action on the tax sales record. The clerk shall also be required to publish the name and address of the reputed owner of the property and the legal description of the property in a public newspaper of the county in which the land is located, or if no newspaper is published as such, then in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county. The publication shall be made at least forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration of the redemption period.
If the reputed owner is a nonresident of the State of Mississippi, then the clerk shall mail a copy of the notice to the reputed owner in the same manner as set out in this section for notice to a resident of the State of Mississippi, except that notice served by the sheriff shall not be required.
Notice by mail shall be by registered or certified mail. In the event the notice by mail is returned undelivered and the notice as required in this section to be served by the sheriff is returned not found, then the clerk shall make further search and inquiry to ascertain the reputed owner's street and post-office address. If the reputed owner's street or post-office address is ascertained after the additional search and inquiry, the clerk shall again issue notice as set out in this section. If notice is again issued and it is again returned not found and if notice by mail is again returned undelivered, then the clerk shall file an affidavit to that effect and shall specify in the affidavit the acts of search and inquiry made by him in an effort to ascertain the reputed owner's street and post-office address and the affidavit shall be retained as a permanent record in the office of the clerk and that action shall be noted on the tax sales record. If the clerk is still unable to ascertain the reputed owner's street or post-office address after making search and inquiry for the second time, then it shall not be necessary to issue any additional notice but the clerk shall file an affidavit specifying the acts of search and inquiry made by him in an effort to ascertain the reputed owner's street and post-office address and the affidavit shall be retained as a permanent record in the office of the clerk and that action shall be noted on the tax sale record.
For examining the records to
ascertain the record owner of the property, the clerk shall be allowed a fee of
Fifty Dollars ($50.00); for issuing the notice the clerk shall be allowed a fee
of Two Dollars ($2.00) and, for mailing the notice and noting that action on
the tax sales record, a fee of One Dollar ($1.00); and for serving the notice,
the sheriff shall be allowed a fee of * * * One
Hundred Dollars ($100.00) with Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to be retained to defray
the expenses of the Office of the Sheriff as provided in Section 25-7-19.
For issuing a second notice, the clerk shall be allowed a fee of Five Dollars
($5.00) and, for mailing the notice and noting that action on the tax sales
record, a fee of Two Dollars and Fifty Cents ($2.50), and for serving the
second notice, the sheriff shall be allowed a fee of * * * One
Hundred Dollars ($100.00) with Fifty Dollars ($50.00) to be retained to defray
the expenses of the Office of the Sheriff as provided in Section 25-7-19.
The clerk shall also be allowed the actual cost of publication. The fees and
cost shall be taxed against the owner of the land if the land is redeemed, and
if not redeemed, then the fees are to be taxed as part of the cost against the
purchaser. The failure of the landowner to actually receive the notice herein
required shall not render the title void, provided the clerk and sheriff have
complied with the duties prescribed for them in this section.
Should the clerk inadvertently fail to send notice as prescribed in this section, then the sale shall be void and the clerk shall not be liable to the purchaser or owner upon refund of all purchase money paid.
SECTION 4. Section 27-45-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-45-1. Redemption of land sold for taxes shall be made through the chancery clerks of the respective counties. Where the land was sold to the state, the clerk, out of the amount necessary to redeem, shall first pay to the officers entitled thereto the costs, fees and damages which are allowed those officers by law in cases of lands sold to individuals; second, he shall pay the state the amount of state taxes with the interest and additional charges thereon allowed by law to the state; and, third, he shall pay to the county the sums computed in like manner which belong to the county and the various taxing districts thereof. Where the land was sold to an individual, the clerk shall pay:
(a) First, to the state the amount of state taxes with the interest and additional charges thereon allowed by law, unless same has been paid previously by the tax purchaser or some other person;
(b) Second, to the county the sums computed in like manner which belong to the county and the various taxing districts thereof, unless same has been paid previously by the tax purchaser or some other person;
(c) Third, to the county the five percent (5%) damages on the amount of the taxes for which the land was sold; and
(d) Fourth, the balance to the purchaser.
The clerk shall make his redemption settlements within twenty (20) days after the end of each month and shall make a complete report thereof to the board of supervisors. For a failure so to report or to pay over the sums to the parties entitled thereto as herein required, he shall be liable on his official bond to a penalty of one percent (1%) per month on the amount withheld. The chancery clerk shall also note each redemption on the public record of delinquent tax lands, on the day payment of taxes is made, with the date, name and the amount of redemption money paid.
If such parcels are to be sold to the prior owner, or if it is blighted property, parcels are to be sold at the higher rate of (a) twenty-five percent (25%) of the market value, as determined by the tax assessor or independent appraisal, or (b) the total of back taxes and all fees, or (c) the applicant's offer amount. Provided that if a tax lien is invalidated by the court and returned to the former property owner, then the price the property owner must pay to the tax lien holder shall be identical to what the Secretary of State received for such property.
SECTION 5. Section 27-45-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-45-17. If the owner, or
any person interested in any land sold for taxes, shall at any time within * * * three (3) years after the sale
for taxes produce a receipt of the tax collector showing payment of the taxes,
for which the land was sold, before the sale, and shall pay to the chancery
clerk all subsequently accrued taxes, the said clerk shall release to the owner
or person interested the title of the state or individual purchaser to such
land. The land so released shall thereafter be dealt with as lands redeemed
are required to be, and the tax collector, whose receipt was so produced, shall
be charged with the taxes collected by him as in the case of other taxes.
SECTION 6. Section 27-45-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-45-21. (1) It shall be the duty of the chancery clerk, within thirty (30) days after the period of redemption has expired, to certify to the Secretary of State a list, on forms provided by the Secretary of State, of all lands struck off to the state for taxes, which have not been redeemed. The list shall show a description of the land, all costs, officer's and printer's fees, the tax for which it sold, segregated as to state, county, levee and drainage districts, and of all taxes due on the lands for the year in which it was struck off to the state, segregated as to state, county, levee and drainage districts, a total of two (2) years' taxes listed separately (the taxes for which it sold and accrued taxes for one (1) year). If any chancery clerk shall fail or neglect to transmit such lists within the time specified, he shall be liable to the state on his official bond in the penalty of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) for each day that he is in default. The penalty to be collected by the Department of Revenue, or by the Attorney General, in a suit instituted for that purpose upon request of the Secretary of State; provided that the Secretary of State, if so requested by any chancery clerk before the expiration of ten (10) days and for good cause shown, may grant a reasonable extension of the time within which the clerk shall transmit his list.
(2) The Secretary of State may provide the forms described in subsection (1) of this section for certifying lands struck off to the state for taxes to the chancery clerk as an electronic record. The chancery clerk may certify the list of all lands struck off to the state by completing and submitting the form containing the electronic signature of the chancery clerk to the Secretary of State. An electronic record of the list submitted by the chancery clerk to the Secretary of State in the prescribed form and containing the electronic signature of the chancery clerk shall vest good title in the State of Mississippi to all lands listed in the form.
(3) In addition to the foregoing provisions, notice to the property owner of the maturity of the tax lien on his property shall commence no earlier than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien and shall be completed no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien.
SECTION 7. Section 27-45-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-45-27. (1) The amount paid by the purchaser of land at any tax sale thereof for taxes, either state and county, levee or municipal, and interest on the amount paid by the purchaser at the rate of one and one-half percent (1-1/2%) per month, or any fractional part thereof, and all expenses of the sale and registration, thereof shall be a lien on the land in favor of the purchaser and the holder of the legal title under him, by descent or purchase, if the taxes for which the land was sold were due, although the sale was illegal on some other ground. The purchaser and the holder of the legal title under him by descent or purchase, may enforce the lien by bill in chancery, and may obtain a decree for the sale of the land in default of payment of the amount within some short time to be fixed by the decree. In all suits for the possession of land, the defendant holding by descent or purchase, mediately or immediately, from the purchaser at tax sale of the land in controversy, may set off against the complainant the above-described claim, which shall have the same effect and be dealt with in all respects as provided for improvements in a suit for the possession of land. But the term "suits for the possession of land," as herein used, does not include an action of unlawful entry and detainer.
(2) No purchaser of land at any tax sale, nor holder of the legal title under him by descent or distribution, shall have any right of action to challenge the validity of the tax sale.
(3) No county or municipal officer shall be liable to any purchaser at a tax sale or any recipient of a tax deed for any error or inadvertent omission by such official during any tax sale.
(4) If such parcels are to be sold to the prior owner, or if it is blighted property, parcels are to be sold at the higher rate of (a) twenty-five percent (25%) of the market value as determined by the tax assessor or independent appraisal, or (b) the total of back taxes and all fees, or (c) the applicant's offer amount. However, if a tax lien is invalidated by the court and the property is returned to the former property owner, then the price the property owner must pay to the tax lienholder shall be identical to that received by the Secretary of State.
SECTION 8. Section 29-1-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-1-37 (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, any person desiring to purchase any state-forfeited tax land shall make application in writing to the Secretary of State for the purchase of the land, and shall state in the application:
(a) A correct description of the land sought to be purchased.
(b) The name of the former owner and the name of the person to whom the land was assessed at the time of the tax sale, and the post-office address of the former owner and the post-office address of the person to whom the land was assessed at the time of the sale, if known to the applicant.
(c) Whether or not the land is occupied at the date of the filing of such application, and the name of the person occupying the land, if any.
(d) The nature and value of the improvements on the land.
(e) The approximate quantity of the merchantable timber on the land, if any.
(f) Any other special information as the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, may require.
Each application shall be signed by the applicant and shall contain a declaration that the statements and information submitted in the application are true and correct and are made under penalty of perjury. The Secretary of State may require any additional information with reference to the value of the lands, the nature and condition of the buildings and improvements on the lands, and the value of the timber on the lands as he may deem necessary. The applications shall be filed by the Secretary of State in the order in which they are received. Each application shall be given a serial number and shall be entered on a record book on the day it is received. The record book shall show the name of the applicant, the serial number of the application, and the county in which the property is situated.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, may dispose of any state-forfeited tax land by sealed bids after three (3) weeks' advertisement in a newspaper in the county in which the land is located.
(3) The Secretary of State may sell state-forfeited tax land by online auction. The Secretary of State may establish procedures and adopt administrative rules for the sale of state-forfeited tax land by online auction.
(4) If such parcels are to be sold to the prior owner, or if it is blighted property, parcels are to be sold at the higher rate of (a) twenty-five percent (25%) of the market value as determined by the tax assessor or independent appraisal, or (b) the total of back taxes and all fees, or (c) the applicant's offer amount. However, if a tax lien is invalidated by the courts and returned to the former property owner, then the price the property owner must pay to the tax lienholder shall be identical to that received by the Secretary of State.
(5) Notice to the property owner of the maturity of the tax lien on his property shall commence no earlier than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien and shall be completed no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the maturity of the tax lien as provided by law. The property owner shall have three (3) years to regain his property lost to taxes due to invalidation of a tax sale regardless of adverse possession of the property, as provided by law.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2021.
