1-1     By:  Siebert (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)             H.B. No. 1651

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 4, 1997;

 1-3     April 8, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; April 24, 1997, reported favorably by

 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 24, 1997, sent to

 1-6     printer.)

 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-8                                   AN ACT

 1-9     relating to the resale of property sold to a taxing unit pursuant

1-10     to foreclosure of an ad valorem tax lien.

1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 34.05(d), Tax Code, is amended to read as

1-13     follows:

1-14           (d)  Except as provided by this subsection, all public sales

1-15     requested as provided by Subsection (c) of this section shall be

1-16     conducted in the manner prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure

1-17     for the sale of property under execution.  The notice of the sale

1-18     must contain a description of the property to be sold, which must

1-19     be a legal description in the case of real property, the number and

1-20     style of the suit under which the property was sold at the tax

1-21     foreclosure sale, and the date of the tax foreclosure sale.  If the

1-22     commissioners court of a county by order specifies the date or time

1-23     at which or location in the county where a public sale requested

1-24     under Subsection (c) shall be conducted, the sale shall be

1-25     conducted on the date and at the time and location specified in the

1-26     order.  The officer conducting the sale shall reject any bid for

1-27     the property if it is his judgment that the amount bid is

1-28     insufficient.  If all bids are insufficient, the property shall be

1-29     readvertised and offered for sale again.  The acceptance of a bid

1-30     by the officer conducting the sale is conclusive and binding on the

1-31     question of its sufficiency.  An action to set aside the sale on

1-32     the grounds that the bid is insufficient may not be sustained in

1-33     court, except that a taxing unit that participates in distribution

1-34     of proceeds of the sale may file an action within one year after

1-35     the date of the sale to set aside the sale on the grounds of fraud

1-36     or collusion between the officer making the sale and the purchaser.

1-37           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-38     applies only to a public sale requested by a taxing unit on or

1-39     after that date.

1-40           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-41     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-42     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-43     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-44     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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