SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON McCOY)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to service of notice by mail for holders of a property tax sale certificate of purchase.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 447.9, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2011, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  After one year and nine months from the date of sale, or after nine months from the date of a sale made under section 446.18, or after three months from the date of a sale made under section 446.19A or 446.19B, the holder of the certificate of purchase may cause to be served upon the person in possession of the parcel, and also upon the person in whose name the parcel is taxed, a notice signed by the certificate holder or the certificate holder’s agent or attorney, stating the date of sale, the description of the parcel sold, the name of the purchaser, and that the right of redemption will expire and a deed for the parcel be made unless redemption is made within ninety days from the completed service of the notice. The notice shall be served by both regular mail and certified mail to the person’s last known address and such service is deemed completed when the notice by certified mail is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery. The ninety-day redemption period begins as provided in section 447.12. When the notice is given by a county as a holder of a certificate of purchase the notice shall be signed by the county treasurer or the county attorney, and when given by a city, it shall be signed by the city officer designated by resolution of the council. When the notice is given by the Iowa finance authority or a city or county agency holding the parcel as part of an Iowa homesteading project, it shall be signed on behalf of the agency or authority by one of its officers, as authorized in rules of the agency or authority.
   2.  Service of the notice shall be made by
 
both regular mail and certified mail on any mortgagee having a lien upon the parcel, a vendor of the parcel under a recorded contract of sale, a lessor who has a recorded lease or recorded memorandum of a lease, and any other person who has an interest of record, at the person’s last known address. The notice shall be served on any city where the parcel is situated. Notice shall not be served after the filing of the affidavit required by section 447.12. Only those persons who are required to be served the notice of expiration as provided in this section or who have acquired an interest in or possession of the parcel subsequent to the filing of the notice of expiration of the right of redemption are eligible to redeem a parcel from tax sale.

Service of the notice is deemed completed when the notice is deposited in the mail and postmarked for delivery.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to the manner in which a holder of a property tax sale certificate of purchase provides certain notices under Code chapter 447 (tax redemption) following a tax sale. The bill requires that service of the notice of expiration of right of redemption made on specified lienholders and interest holders be made by both regular mail and certified mail and specifies when service of such notice is deemed completed.
   Certified mail means a mail service provided by the United States postal service where the post office provides the mailer with a receipt to prove mailing.
   Pursuant to Code section 447.14, the law in effect at the time of tax sale governs redemption.