1. The board of supervisors of a county may adopt an ordinance authorizing the county and each city in the county to bid on and purchase delinquent taxes and to assign tax sale certificates of abandoned property. This section may only be used by a county or by a city in the county if such an ordinance is in effect.
2. On the day of the regular tax sale or any continuance or adjournment of the tax sale, the county or a city may bid for abandoned property assessed as residential property or as commercial multifamily housing property a sum equal to the total amount due. Money shall not be paid by the county or city for the purchase, but each of the tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies having any interest in the taxes shall be charged with the total amount due the tax-levying or tax-certifying body as its just share of the purchase price. Prior to the purchase, the county or city shall file with the county treasurer a verified statement that a parcel to be purchased is abandoned and deteriorating in condition or is, or is likely to become, a public nuisance, and that the parcel is suitable for use for low or moderate income housing following rehabilitation.
3. If after the date that a parcel is sold pursuant to this chapter, or after the date that a parcel is sold under section 446.18, 446.38, or 446.39, the parcel assessed as residential property or as commercial multifamily housing property is identified as abandoned pursuant to a verified statement filed with the county treasurer by a city or county in the form set forth in subsection 2, a city or county may require the assignment of the tax sale certificate that had been issued for such parcel by paying to the holder of such certificate the total amount due on the date the assignment of the certificate is made to the county or city and recorded with the county treasurer. If the certificate is not assigned by the county or city pursuant to subsection 4, the county or city, whichever is applicable, is liable for the tax sale interest that was due the certificate holder pursuant to section 447.1, as of the date of assignment.
4. a. The city or county may assign the tax sale certificate obtained pursuant to this section. Preference shall be given to purchasers who are low or moderate income families or organizations which assist low or moderate income families to obtain housing. Persons who purchase certificates from the city or county under this subsection are liable for the total amount due the certificate holder pursuant to section 447.1.
b. All persons who purchase certificates from the city or county under this subsection shall demonstrate the intent to rehabilitate the property for habitation if the property is not redeemed. In the alternative, the county or city may, if title to the property has vested in the county or city under section 448.1, dispose of the property in accordance with section 331.361 or 364.7, as applicable.
5. For the purposes of this section, "abandoned" means the same as in section 657A.1. For the purposes of this section, "low or moderate income families" has the same meaning as in section 403.17.
96 Acts, ch 1204, §31; 99 Acts, ch 29, §1, 3
Referred to in § 447.9
1999 amendment is effective April 15, 1999, and applies to parcels first offered for sale at the tax sale held in June 1999 and subsequent years; 99 Acts, ch 29, §3
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