1-1 By: Madla S.B. No. 337
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 1, 1999; February 3, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; February 25, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
1-6 February 25, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 337 By: Madla
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the distribution of the proceeds from a property tax
1-11 sale.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code,
1-14 are amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) The clerk of the court shall:
1-16 (1) if the amount of excess proceeds is more than $25,
1-17 before the 31st day after the date the excess proceeds are received
1-18 by the clerk, send by certified mail, return receipt requested, a
1-19 written notice to the former owner of the property, at the former
1-20 owner's last known address according to the records of the court or
1-21 any other source reasonably available to the court, that:
1-22 (A) states the amount of the excess proceeds;
1-23 (B) informs the former owner of that owner's
1-24 rights to claim the excess proceeds under Section 34.04; and
1-25 (C) includes a copy or the complete text of this
1-26 section and Section 34.04; and
1-27 (2) regardless of the amount, keep the excess proceeds
1-28 paid into court as provided by [Subsection (c) of] Section 34.02(c)
1-29 [34.02 of this code] for a period of two [seven] years after the
1-30 date of the sale unless otherwise ordered by the court.
1-31 (b) If no claimant establishes entitlement to the proceeds
1-32 within the period provided by Subsection (a) [seven years], the
1-33 clerk shall distribute the excess proceeds to each taxing unit
1-34 participating in the sale in an amount equal to the proportion its
1-35 taxes, penalties, and interests bear to the total amount of taxes,
1-36 penalties, and interest due all participants in the sale.
1-37 SECTION 2. Subsection (a) and (d), Section 34.04, Tax Code,
1-38 are amended to read as follows:
1-39 (a) A person may file a petition in the court that ordered
1-40 the sale setting forth a claim to the excess proceeds within two
1-41 [seven] years from the date of the sale of the property.
1-42 (d) A claim for the excess proceeds may not be filed after
1-43 the expiration of the period provided by Subsection (a) [seven
1-44 years] from the date the property is sold.
1-45 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-46 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies to the
1-47 disposition of excess proceeds of a property tax foreclosure sale
1-48 paid into court regardless of the date on which the foreclosure
1-49 sale occurred or the date on which the proceeds were paid into the
1-50 court. If on the effective date of this Act the clerk of a court
1-51 is retaining excess proceeds, the clerk shall mail the notice
1-52 required by Subsection (a), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by
1-53 this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
1-54 Act. The clerk may not distribute those proceeds as provided by
1-55 Subsection (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
1-56 before the second anniversary of the date the notice is mailed. A
1-57 claim for the proceeds made on or before that second anniversary is
1-58 considered to have been made within the period provided by
1-59 Subsection (b), Section 34.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act.
1-60 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
1-61 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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