Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 3419 amends provisions of the Tax Code relating to the seizure and sale of property at a tax sale and to the distribution of tax sale proceeds. In a county with a population of three million or more, the bill allows the posting of notice and subsequent sale of seized personal property to be conducted by a peace officer or a collector specified in a warrant; as an alternative, the bill also allows the commissioners court to authorize a peace officer or collector for the county to enter into an agreement with a licensed auctioneer or service provider to advertise and conduct the auction sale of property against which a tax warrant has been issued. The bill provides for on-line advertising, bidding, and sale under an agreement with a service provider. House Bill 3419 requires proceeds of a sale to be applied to compensation owed for auction services; to all usual costs of the seizure and sale of a property, including the costs of advertising the sale or of moving, storing, or safeguarding the seized property pending its sale; to court costs associated with issuance of a tax warrant; and to all taxes, penalties, and interest included in the application for the tax warrant.            House Bill 3419 establishes conditions under which real property, whether improved or unimproved, may be presumed to have been abandoned for at least one year and is therefore subject to seizure for unpaid taxes by a municipality or a county; the bill allows the municipal or county collector to rely on an affidavit of a person with personal knowledge of the facts determining whether property has been abandoned or is vacant. If notice has not been served by a municipality or county that the taxes on a person's property are delinquent and the property is subject to seizure, the assessor or collector for the municipality or county must give notice by either serving a true and correct copy of the application for a tax warrant to each person known who has an interest in the property or, if ownership of the property or the address of the owner cannot be determined, publishing notice of the intent to seize the property in a newspaper or, if publication is not possible, by posting the notice of intent in three public places, including at the county courthouse door. The bill establishes that a person is considered to have been provided notice if the application for the tax warrant contains the certificate of service or if the tax warrant is accompanied by an affidavit stating the fact of publication or posting. On institution of seizure of real property under a tax warrant, the collector also is entitled to recover attorney's fees to compensate an attorney with whom the collector has contracted for the collection of delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest if the request is specified and justified in the warrant application and the delinquent tax to be recovered is not subject to an additional penalty to defray collection costs.

            House Bill 3419 allows the sale of real property seized under a tax warrant to take place in an area of the county courthouse or at another location in the county as designated by the commissioners court. The bill provides that the inclusion of dues and assessments for maintenance paid to a property owners' association may not be construed either as a waiver of any immunity to which a taxing unit may be entitled from a suit or from liability for those dues or assessments or as the authority for a taxing unit to spend public funds in violation of certain provisions of the Texas Constitution.