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1996 SESSION


CHAPTER 710
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-317, 58.1-3965 and 58.1-3967 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the judicial sale of abandoned real property.
[S 534]
Approved April 6, 1996

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 8.01-317, 58.1-3965 and 58.1-3967 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 8.01-317. What order of publication to state; how published; when publication in newspaper dispensed with.

Except in condemnation actions, every order of publication shall give the abbreviated style of the suit, state briefly its object, and require the defendants, or unknown parties, against whom it is entered to appear and protect their interests on or before the date stated in the order which shall be no sooner than fifty days after entry of the order of publication. Such order of publication shall be published once each week for four successive weeks in such newspaper as the court may prescribe, or, if none be so prescribed, as the clerk may direct, and shall be posted at the front door of the courthouse wherein the court is held; also a copy of such order of publication shall be mailed to each of the defendants at the post-office post office address given in the affidavit required by § 8.01-316. The clerk shall cause copies of the order to be so posted, mailed, and transmitted to the designated newspaper within ten twenty days after the entry of the order of publication. Upon completion of such publication, the clerk shall file a certificate in the papers of the case that the requirements of this section have been complied with. Provided, the court may, in any case where deemed proper, dispense with such publication in a newspaper.

§ 58.1-3965. When land may be sold for delinquent taxes; notice of sale; owner's right of redemption.

A. When any taxes on any real estate in a county, city or town are delinquent on December 31 following the third anniversary of the date on which such taxes have become due, such real estate may be sold for the purpose of collecting all delinquent taxes on such property. The officer charged with the duty of collecting taxes for the locality wherein the real property lies shall, at least thirty days prior to instituting any action judicial proceeding pursuant to this section, send a notice to the last known address of the property owner (and to the property address if the property address is different from the owner's address and if the real estate is listed with the post office by a numbered and named street address) and to the last known address of any trustee under any deed of trust, mortgagee under any mortgage and any other lien creditor, if such trustee, mortgagee or lien creditor is not otherwise made a party defendant under § 58.1-3967, advising such property owner, trustee, mortgagee or other lien creditor of the delinquency and the officer's intention to take action. Such officer shall also cause to be published at least once a list of real estate which will be offered for sale under the provisions of this article in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality, at least thirty days prior to the date on which judicial proceedings under the provisions of this article are to be commenced.

The pro rata cost of such publication shall become a part of the tax and together with all other costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees set by the court and the costs of any title examination conducted in order to comply with the notice requirements imposed by this section, shall be collected if payment is made by the owner in redemption of the real property described therein whether or not court proceedings have been initiated. A notice substantially in the following form shall be sufficient:

Notice
Judicial Sale of Real Property

On ........... (date) ............ proceedings will be commenced under the authority of § 58.1-3965 et seq. of the Code of Virginia to sell the following parcels for payment of delinquent taxes:

(description of properties)

B. The owner of any property listed may redeem it at any time before the date of the sale by paying all accumulated taxes, penalties, reasonable attorneys' fees, interest and costs thereon, including the pro rata cost of publication hereunder. Partial payment of delinquent taxes, penalties, reasonable attorneys' fees, interest or costs shall not be sufficient to redeem the property, and shall not operate to suspend, invalidate or make moot any action for judicial sale brought pursuant to this article.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection B, the treasurer or other officer responsible for collecting taxes may suspend any action for sale of the property commenced pursuant to this article upon entering into an agreement with the owner of the real property for the payment of all delinquent amounts in installments over a period which is reasonable under the circumstances, but in no event shall exceed twenty-four months. Any such agreement shall be recorded by the officer among the land records of the locality in which the property lies, and shall be secured by the lien of the locality pursuant to § 58.1-3340.

D. During the pendency of any installment agreement permitted under subsection C, any proceeding for sale previously commenced shall not abate, but shall be continued on the docket of the court in which such action is pending. It shall be the duty of the treasurer or other officer responsible for collecting taxes to promptly notify the clerk of such court when obligations arising under such an installment agreement have been fully satisfied. Upon the receipt of such notice, the clerk shall cause the action to be stricken from the docket.

E. In the event the owner of the property or other responsible person defaults upon obligations arising under an installment agreement permitted by subsection C, or during the term of any installment agreement, defaults on any current obligation as it becomes due, such agreement shall be voidable by the treasurer or other officer responsible for collecting taxes upon fifteen days' written notice to the signatories of such agreement irrespective of the amount remaining due. Any action for the sale previously commenced pursuant to this article may proceed without any requirement that the notice or advertisement required by subsection A, which had previously been made with respect to such property, be repeated. No owner of property which has been the subject of a defaulted installment agreement shall be eligible to enter into a second installment agreement with respect to the same property within three years of such default.

§ 58.1-3967. How proceedings instituted; parties; procedure generally; title acquired; disposition of surplus proceeds of sale.

Proceedings under this article for the sale of real estate on which county, city, or town taxes are delinquent shall be by bill in equity, filed in the circuit court of the county or city in which such real estate is located, to subject the real estate to the lien for such delinquent taxes.

Any party with an interest in such real estate, including a lienor or person with a claim of title, shall file his claim within ninety days after notice of such proceedings. Failure to timely file shall bar any such claims.

Any party who is not otherwise served shall be served by publication pursuant to § 8.01-316. Any person served by publication may petition to have the case reheard, but, notwithstanding § 8.01-322, only for good cause shown, and only within ninety days of entry of the final decree.

All necessary parties shall be made parties defendant. A guardian ad litem shall be appointed for persons under a disability as defined in § 8.01-2, and for all persons proceeded against by an order of publication as parties unknown. The beneficiary or beneficiaries under any deed of trust, security interest or mortgage shall not be deemed necessary parties provided any trustee under the deed of trust, any mortgagee under the mortgage, and any lien creditor are given notice as prescribed in § 58.1-3965, except that the beneficiary or beneficiaries, or the trustee or trustees, under any deed of trust, security interest or mortgage securing a financial institution, or any lien creditor that is a financial institution, shall be necessary parties defendant. The title conveyed to the purchaser at the judicial sale shall be held to bar any disabilities of parties defendant, and to shall be free of all claims of any creditor, person, or entity, including those claims of beneficiaries under any deed of trust or mortgage, provided that notice was given and the creditor, person, or entity was made a party defendant.

Such proceedings shall be held in accordance with the requirements, statutory or arising at common law, relative to effecting the sale of real estate by a creditor's bill in equity to subject real estate to the lien of a judgment creditor, provided, that publication, if necessary, shall be as provided by § 8.01-321.

In proceedings under this article, the character of the title acquired by the purchaser of such real estate at such sale shall be governed by the principles and rules applicable to the titles of purchases at judicial sales of real estate generally.

The former owner, his heirs or assigns of any real estate sold under this article shall be entitled to the surplus received from such sale in excess of the taxes, penalties, interest, reasonable attorneys' fees, costs and any liens chargeable thereon. If no claim for such surplus is made by such former owner, his heirs or assigns, within two years after the date of confirmation of such sale, then such surplus shall be paid by the clerk of the court in which such suit was instituted to the county or city in which such real estate is located.