446.19B Public nuisance tax sale — rehabilitation for use as housing.

1. The board of supervisors of a county may adopt an ordinance authorizing the county treasurer to separately offer and sell at the annual tax sale delinquent taxes on parcels that are abandoned property and are assessed as residential property or as commercial multifamily housing property and that are, or are likely to become, a public nuisance. This section may only be used by a county or by a city in the county if such an ordinance is in effect.

2. On or before May 15, the county or city may file with the county treasurer a verified statement containing a listing of parcels and a declaration that each parcel is abandoned property, each parcel is assessed as residential property or as commercial multifamily housing property, each parcel is, or is likely to become, a public nuisance, and that each parcel is suitable for use as housing following rehabilitation.

3. The verified statement shall be published at the same time and in the same manner as the notice of the annual tax sale and the requirements in section 446.9, subsection 2, for publication of notice of the annual tax sale also apply to publication of the verified statement.

4. On the day of the regular tax sale, or any continuance or adjournment of the tax sale, the treasurer shall separately offer and sell those parcels listed in a verified statement timely received and properly published and which remain liable to sale for delinquent taxes. This sale shall be known as the “public nuisance tax sale”. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the percentage interest that may be purchased in a parcel offered for sale under this section shall not be less than one hundred percent.

5. To be eligible to bid on parcels under this section, a prospective bidder shall enter into a rehabilitation agreement with the county, or with the city if the property is located within a city, to demonstrate the intent to rehabilitate the property for use as housing if the property is not redeemed.

6. If after issuance of a tax sale deed to the holder of a certificate of purchase at the public nuisance tax sale, the tax sale deed holder determines that a building, structure, or other improvement located on the parcel cannot be rehabilitated for habitation, the tax sale deed holder may request approval from the board of supervisors, or the city council if the property is located within a city, to remove, dismantle, or demolish the building, structure, or other improvement.

7. When a parcel is offered at public nuisance tax sale and no bid is received, or if the bid received is less than the total amount due, the county in which the parcel is located, through its county treasurer, shall bid for the parcel a sum equal to the total amount due. Money shall not be paid by the county or city for the purchase, but each of the tax-levying and tax-certifying bodies having any interest in the taxes shall be charged with the total amount due the tax-levying or tax-certifying body as its just share of the purchase price.

8. The tax sale certificate holder may assign the tax sale certificate obtained pursuant to this section.

9. For purposes of this section, “abandoned property” means the same as defined in section 446.19A, and “public nuisance” means the same as defined in section 657A.1.

2006 Acts, ch 1070, §23

Referred to in §446.31, 446.37, 447.9