By:  Madla                                             S.B. No. 337
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to the distribution of the proceeds from a property tax
 1-2     sale.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code,
 1-5     are amended to read as follows:
 1-6           (a)  The clerk of the court shall:
 1-7                 (1)  if the amount of excess proceeds is more than $25,
 1-8     before the 31st day after the date the excess proceeds are received
 1-9     by the clerk, send by certified mail, return receipt requested, a
1-10     written notice to the former owner of the property, at the former
1-11     owner's last known address according to the records of the court or
1-12     any other source reasonably available to the court, that:
1-13                       (A)  states the amount of the excess proceeds;
1-14                       (B)  informs the former owner of that owner's
1-15     rights to claim the excess proceeds under Section 34.04; and
1-16                       (C)  includes a copy or the complete text of this
1-17     section and Section 34.04; and
1-18                 (2)  regardless of the amount, keep the excess proceeds
1-19     paid into court as provided by [Subsection (c) of] Section 34.02(c)
1-20     [34.02 of this code] for a period of two [seven] years after the
1-21     date of the sale unless otherwise ordered by the court.
1-22           (b)  If no claimant establishes entitlement to the proceeds
1-23     within the period provided by Subsection (a) [seven years], the
1-24     clerk shall distribute the excess proceeds to each taxing unit
 2-1     participating in the sale in an amount equal to the proportion its
 2-2     taxes, penalties, and interests bear to the total amount of taxes,
 2-3     penalties, and interest due all participants in the sale.
 2-4           SECTION 2.  Subsections (a) and (d), Section 34.04, Tax Code,
 2-5     are amended to read as follows:
 2-6           (a)  A person may file a petition in the court that ordered
 2-7     the sale setting forth a claim to the excess proceeds within two
 2-8     [seven] years from the date of the sale of the property.
 2-9           (d)  A claim for the excess proceeds may not be filed after
2-10     the expiration of the period provided by Subsection (a) [seven
2-11     years] from the date the property is sold.
2-12           SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13           (b)  The change in law made by this Act applies to the
2-14     disposition of excess proceeds of a property tax foreclosure sale
2-15     paid into court regardless of the date on which the foreclosure
2-16     sale occurred or the date on which the proceeds were paid into the
2-17     court.  If on the effective date of this Act the clerk of a court
2-18     is retaining excess proceeds, the clerk shall mail the notice
2-19     required by Subsection (a), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by
2-20     this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
2-21     Act.  The clerk may not distribute those proceeds as provided by
2-22     Subsection (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
2-23     before the second anniversary of the date the notice is mailed.  A
2-24     claim for the proceeds made on or before that second anniversary is
2-25     considered to have been made within the period provided by
2-26     Subsection (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act.
 3-1           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.