Any regional water authority established under an act of the General Assembly, may assign, for consideration, any and all liens filed by such regional water authority to secure unpaid water assessments or connection or use charges of the authority. The consideration received by the authority shall be negotiated between the authority and the assignee. The assignee or assignees of such liens shall have and possess the same powers and rights at law or in equity as such authority would have had if the lien had not been assigned with regard to the precedence and priority of such lien, the accrual of interest and the fees and expenses of collection. The assignee shall have the same rights to enforce such liens as any private party holding a lien on real property, including, but not limited to, foreclosure and a suit on the debt. Costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the assignee as a result of any foreclosure action or other legal proceeding brought pursuant to this section and directly related to the proceeding shall be taxed in any such proceeding against each person having title to any property subject to the proceedings. Such costs and fees may be collected by the assignee at any time after demand for payment has been made by the assignee.
(P.A. 99-283, S. 9, 10.)
History: P.A. 99-283 effective July 1, 1999.