2015 -- S 0568

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LC001621

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO TAXATION - TAX SALES

     Introduced By: Senators McCaffrey, and Ciccone

     Date Introduced: March 03, 2015

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 44-9-11 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-9 entitled "Tax Sales" is

hereby amended to read as follows:

     44-9-11. Notice to mortgagees and other parties in interest. -- (a) In case the collector

shall advertise for sale any property, real, personal, or mixed, in which any person other than the

person to whom the tax is assessed has an interest, it shall not be necessary for the collector to

notify the interested party, except for the following interested parties, provided that their interest

was of record at least ninety (90) days prior to the date set for the sale: the present owner of

record, mortgagees of record and mortgage assignees of record, former fee holders whose right to

redeem has not been foreclosed, holders of tax title, federal agencies having a recorded lien on the

subject property, holders of life estates of record, and vested remainder whose identity can be

ascertained from an examination of the land or probate records of the municipality conducting the

sale, and/or their assignees of record who shall be notified by the collector either by registered or

certified mail sent postpaid not less than twenty (20) days before the date of sale or any

adjournment of the sale, to an agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of

process, or to the address of the party in interest set forth in the recorded mortgage document or

the recorded assignment, or to the last known address of the party in interest, but no notice of

adjournments shall be necessary other than the announcement made at the sale. The posting and

publication of the notice of the time and place of sale in the manner provided by § 44-9-9 shall be

deemed sufficient notice to all other interested parties. This provision shall apply to all taxes

levied prior to and subsequent to 1896. This provision shall be subject to the notice requirements

of § 44-9-10. It shall not be necessary, however, to provide the names of the mortgagees and

other parties in interest under this section to the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance

Corporation or to the department of elderly affairs. In the event that the Rhode Island housing

and mortgage finance corporation does in fact pay the tax and acquire a lien on the subject

property, then the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation shall within thirty (30)

days of making the tax payment notify those mortgagees of record and mortgagee assignees of

record, whose interests in the property was of record at least ninety (90) days prior to the date set

for the tax sale, of the fact that the taxes have been paid by the Rhode Island housing and

mortgage finance corporation and that a tax lien has been acquired by the Rhode Island housing

and mortgage finance corporation.

      (b) Only a person or entity failing to receive notice in accordance with the provisions of

this section and §§ 44-9-9 and 44-9-10 shall be entitled to raise the issue of lack of notice or

defective notice to void the tax sale. The right to notice shall be personal to each party entitled to

it and shall not be asserted on behalf of another party in interest. If there is a defect in notice, the

tax sale shall be void only as to the party deprived of adequate notice, but shall be valid as to all

other parties in interest who received proper notice of the tax sale.

      (c) Once a petition is filed under § 44-9-25, and any party in interest entitled to notice of

the tax sale receives actual notice of the pendency of the petition to foreclose, the party must raise

the notice defense in accordance with the provisions of § 44-9-31 or be estopped from alleging

lack of notice in any action to vacate a final decree entered in accordance with § 44-9-30.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO TAXATION - TAX SALES

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     This act would require the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation to

notify those mortgagees and mortgage assignees of record within thirty (30) days, that the

property tax has been paid and a tax lien has been acquired by said corporation.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC001621

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