(a) Whenever payment upon either the principal or the interest of any bond is not made to the bondholder when the coupon therefor is due, the holder of the bond, after sending the notice required by subdivision (b), may demand, in writing, that the treasurer proceed to advertise and sell the lot or parcel of land described in the bond as being that upon which the assessment represented by the bond was levied. If the holder of the bond has complied with subdivision (b) and deposits the required amounts, the treasurer shall proceed to advertise and sell the lot or parcel of land as provided in this chapter.

The treasurer may require the holder of the bond to deposit with him an amount of money estimated by the treasurer to be sufficient to reimburse the city for costs incurred in obtaining an abstract of title or title search of the real property to be sold, if the treasurer deems it necessary to determine ownership of the property. Amounts deposited which remain after these expenses have been paid shall be returned to the depositor or his representative.

(b) At least 30 days prior to demanding a sale by the treasurer for nonpayment of either principal or interest upon any delinquent bond on owner-occupied residential property, a bondholder shall send a notice by first-class mail, postage prepaid, of the delinquent amount along with the following notice to the owner of the property. The notice shall be substantially in the following form and be printed in red ink in at least 14-point boldface type:

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Dear Property Owner:

Your property located at

_____

(address)

may be sold by the city (or county) because you have not paid what you owe for ________ improvements made in your area.

To be sure to save your property, pay to the city (or county) treasurer the delinquent amount which is overdue or call

by .

(telephone number of

city or county treasurer’s

improvement bond unit)

(date)

(Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1443, Sec. 1. Effective September 27, 1982. Operative January 1, 1983, by Sec. 8 of Ch. 1443.)