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05 LC 28 2509

House Bill 931

By: Representatives Willard of the 49th and Tumlin of the 38th

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue, so as to change the penalty for failure to pay ad valorem taxes; to provide for definitions; to provide for the transfer of tax executions; to provide for certain notices to taxpayers; to provide for the payment of such executions; to provide for certain procedures relative to such tax executions; to provide for the collection of such executions; to provide for certain charges; to prohibit the purchase of tax executions by certain persons; to provide for the manner of paying tax executions held by absentee transferees; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue, is amended by striking subsection (b) of Code Section 48-2-44, relating to penalty and interest on failure to pay ad valorem tax, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (b) to read as follows:

∀(b)(1) In any instance in which any person willfully fails, on or after July 1, 2005, to pay, before the delinquency date, any ad valorem tax owed the state or any local government, such person shall pay a penalty of 3 percent of the amount of tax due and not paid on or before the time prescribed by law.

(2) In any instance in which any such person willfully fails, on or after July 1, 1981, to pay, within 90 days of the due date when due, any such ad valorem tax owed the state or any local government, he such person shall pay, in the absence of a specific statutory civil penalty for the failure, a an additional penalty of 10 7 percent of the amount of the tax due and not paid on or before the time prescribed by law, together with interest as specified by law. This However, none of the 10 percent total penalty shall not, however, apply in the case of:

(A) Ad valorem taxes of $500.00 or less on homestead property as defined in Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this title; or

(B) With respect to tax year 1986 and future tax years, ad valorem taxes of any amount on homestead property as defined in Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this title, if the homestead property was during the tax year acquired by a new owner who did not receive a tax bill for the tax year and who immediately before acquiring the homestead property resided outside the State of Georgia and if the taxes are paid within one year following the due date.

(2) Any city or county authorized as of April 22, 1981, by statute or constitutional amendment to receive a penalty of greater than 10 percent for failure to pay an ad valorem tax is authorized to continue to receive that amount.

(3) With respect to all penalties and interest received by the tax commissioner on or after July 1, 1998, unless otherwise specifically provided for by general law, the tax commissioner shall distribute penalties collected and interest collected or earned as follows:

(A) Penalties collected for failure to return property for ad valorem taxation or for failure to pay ad valorem taxes, and interest earned by the tax commissioner on taxes collected but not yet disbursed, shall be paid into the county treasury in the same manner and at the same time the tax is collected and distributed to the county, and they shall remain the property of the county; and

(B) Interest collected on delinquent ad valorem taxes shall be distributed pro rata based on each taxing jurisdictiońs share of the total tax on which the interest was computed.∀

SECTION 2.

Said title is further amended by striking Code Section 48-3-19, relating to tax executions, and inserting in its place a new Code Section 48-3-19 to read as follows:

∀48-3-19.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) 'Delinquent taxpayer' means the person or persons against whom an execution has been issued.

(2) 'Execution' means an execution issued for the collection of any ad valorem taxes, fees, penalties, interest, or collection costs due the state or any political subdivision thereof.

(3) 'Governing authority' means the county governing authority when the tax executions have been issued for state and county taxes or a combination of state, county, and city taxes; or the municipal governing authority when the tax executions have been issued for city taxes alone.

(4) 'Transferee' means a person paying for any execution for the purpose of having all the rights to enforce collection thereof transferred to him or her.

(5) 'Transferor' means the official holding the tax executions and authorized to collect or transfer such tax executions.

(b)(1) Before a governing authority may agree to the transfer of executions, it shall notify the delinquent taxpayers of its intention to authorize such transfer. Such notice shall be sent by regular mail and shall advise the delinquent taxpayers against whom the executions have been issued that the delinquent taxpayers have 30 days in which to pay the transferor the amount of the execution plus any penalties, interest, and costs that may have accrued or the executions may be transferred to a private company for collection. In the event that such notice sent by regular mail is returned undelivered or the identity of the delinquent taxpayer is unknown to the governing authority, the governing authority shall publish such notice not less than once a week for three weeks in the legal organ of the county in which the execution was entered on the general execution docket of the superior court. In either event, the transferor shall not be authorized to transfer the executions until this notice has been made and the 30 day period has transpired.

(2) Whenever any person other than the person against whom an execution has been issued for state, county, or municipal taxes pays such execution and proves compliance with subsection (c) of this Code section, the officer whose duty it is to enforce the execution, upon the request of the party paying the execution, shall transfer the execution to the party so paying. The transferee shall have the same rights as to enforcing the execution and priority of payment as might have been exercised or claimed by the transferor before the transfer, if, within 30 days of the transfer, the transferee has the execution entered on the general execution docket of the superior court of the county in which the execution was issued and, if the person against whom the execution was issued resides in a different county, has the execution entered on the general execution docket of the superior court in the county of such persońs residence. In default of the required entry, the execution shall lose its lien upon any property which has been transferred.

(3)(A) It shall be unlawful for any tax official or his or her employees to pay a tax execution in order to obtain a transfer of the execution under this Code section. The tax officials covered by this paragraph are:

(i) County tax receivers, tax collectors, and tax commissioners;

(ii) Members of county boards of tax assessors;

(iii) Members of county boards of equalization; and

(iv) County tax appraisers.

(B) Any execution transferred in violation of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be void and unenforceable by the person obtaining the execution and such persońs successors in interest.

(C) Any tax official or employee of a tax official violating subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall upon conviction be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(c) No person may pay an execution issued for ad valorem property taxes and thereby become the transferee of such execution as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section if the person is not a lawful heir or an equity holder in such property unless and until:

(1) Such person has notified the individual against whom the execution was issued by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, and, with respect to single-family residences and duplexes, notified the occupant thereof by first-class mail, of such persońs intention to pay such execution and unless and until 30 days have elapsed since the giving of such notice; or

(2) In the event that such notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, is returned undelivered, such person shall be required to publish such notice not less than once a week for three weeks in the legal organ of the county in which the execution was entered on the general execution docket of the superior court. Such person shall be required to show proof to the tax official who issued the execution that such notice was advertised in compliance with this paragraph.

(d) In the event any execution transferred is later determined to have been issued in error, the transferee shall cease and desist from all collection efforts, remove the associated entries from any execution dockets on which it has been entered, remove any negative reports that may have been submitted to credit reporting agencies regarding the erroneous execution, and return the execution to the transferor. In return, the transferor shall reimburse the transferee the total amount paid for the execution including any penalties, interest, and collection costs that may have been incurred by the transferee since the transfer.

(e)(1) The transferee may begin collection proceedings immediately after the transfer; however, the transferee shall, within 30 days after transfer of the execution, send a notice to the delinquent taxpayer indicating the transferee is now holding such execution. The notice shall include, but not be limited to, the payment amount necessary to settle the execution, the rate of accumulation of additional charges authorized by law on the execution, and the actions that will be taken by the transferee if the execution is not settled in a timely manner.

(2) The transferee shall, immediately after the execution has been settled, indicate such settlement on any execution dockets where the execution has been entered and submit a statement indicating such settlement to any credit reporting agencies to which negative reports were submitted by the transferee regarding the execution.

(f) The transferee or transfereés successor or assigns shall not charge the person against whom such execution was issued for the release or satisfaction of such execution more than the total of the amount paid on the tax execution plus interest from the date of such transfer in accordance with Code Section 48-2-40. In addition, the transferee may charge and collect recording fees actually expended in recording the transferred execution on the general execution docket of any county in which the transfer is recorded and such other penalties as are provided for in this title. Reserved.∀

SECTION 3.

Said title is further amended by adding a new Code Section 48-3-19.1 to read as follows:

∀48-3-19.1.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'absent transferee' is a transferee, as defined in Code Section 48-3-19, who has not taken steps to collect on a tax execution he or she holds and who cannot be readily located for payoff.

(b) If a delinquent taxpayer wishes to pay off a tax execution held by a transferee, he or she shall place with the tax commissioner a certified check or money order in an amount calculated to pay off the tax execution, including penalties, interest, and other costs that may have accrued. The delinquent taxpayer shall then send notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested, to the transfereés last address of record as shown in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county. The notice shall include the contact information of the delinquent taxpayer as well as that of the tax commissioner. If no response from the transferee is made to the tax commissioneŕs office within 45 days, the delinquent taxpayer, showing proof of notice sent, shall receive the full amount of the payoff amount previously deposited with the tax commissioner and the lien against his or her property shall be null and void.

SECTION 4.

This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 5.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.