1. If the person, company or corporation so assessed neglects or refuses to pay the taxes within 30 days after demand, the taxes become delinquent. If the person, company or corporation so assessed neglects or refuses to pay the taxes within 10 days after the taxes become delinquent, a penalty of 10 percent must be added. If the tax and penalty are not paid on demand, the county assessor or his or her deputy may seize, seal or lock enough of the personal property of the person, company or corporation so neglecting or refusing to pay to satisfy the taxes and costs. The county assessor may use alternative methods of collection, including, without limitation, the assistance of the district attorney.

2. The county assessor shall:

(a) Post a notice of the seizure, with a description of the property, in a public area of the county courthouse or the county office building in which the assessor’s office is located, and within the immediate vicinity of the property being seized; and

(b) At the expiration of 5 days, proceed to sell at public auction, at the time and place mentioned in the notice, to the highest bidder, for lawful money of the United States, a sufficient quantity of the property to pay the taxes and expenses incurred. For this service, the county assessor must be allowed from the delinquent person a fee of $3. The county assessor is not required to sell the property if the highest bid received is less than the lowest acceptable bid indicated in the notice.

A person who, after the notice of the seizure of the property is posted pursuant to this subsection within the immediate vicinity of the property being seized and before the delinquent taxes on the property are paid, and without the consent of the county assessor, removes, defaces, covers or otherwise conceals that notice, moves or sells the property, attempts to move or sell the property, or assists another person to move or sell the property, is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

3. If the personal property seized by the county assessor or his or her deputy consists of a mobile or manufactured home, an aircraft, or the personal property of a business, the county assessor shall publish a notice of the seizure once during each of 2 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. If the legal owner of the property is someone other than the registered owner and the name and address of the legal owner can be ascertained from public records, the county assessor shall, before publication, send a notice of the seizure by registered or certified mail to the legal owner. The cost of the publication and notice must be charged to the delinquent taxpayer. The notice must state:

(a) The name of the owner, if known.

(b) The description of the property seized, including the location, the make, model and dimensions and the serial number, body number or other identifying number.

(c) The fact that the property has been seized and the reason for seizure.

(d) The lowest acceptable bid for the sale of the property, which is the total amount of the taxes due on the property and the penalties and costs as provided by law.

(e) The time and place at which the property is to be sold.

After the expiration of 5 days from the date of the second publication of the notice, the property must be sold at public auction in the manner provided in subsection 2 for the sale of other personal property by the county assessor.

4. Upon payment of the purchase money, the county assessor shall deliver to the purchaser of the property sold, with a certificate of the sale, a statement of the amount of taxes or assessment and the expenses thereon for which the property was sold, whereupon the title of the property so sold vests absolutely in the purchaser.

5. After a mobile or manufactured home, an aircraft, or the personal property of a business is sold and the county assessor has paid all the taxes and costs on the property, the county assessor shall deposit into the general fund of the county the first $300 of the excess proceeds from the sale. The county assessor shall deposit any remaining amount of the excess proceeds from the sale into an interest-bearing account maintained for the purpose of holding excess proceeds separate from other money of the county. If no claim is made for the money within 6 months after the sale of the property for which the claim is made, the county assessor shall pay the money into the general fund of the county. All interest paid on money deposited in the account pursuant to this subsection is the property of the county.

6. If the former owner of a mobile or manufactured home, aircraft, or personal property of a business that was sold pursuant to this section makes a claim in writing for the balance of the proceeds of the sale within 6 months after the completion of the sale, the county assessor shall pay the balance of the proceeds of the sale or the proper portion of the balance over to the former owner if the county assessor is satisfied that the former owner is entitled to it.

[Part 60:344:1953; A 1954, 29] — (NRS A 1960, 343; 1969, 95; 1981, 803; 1985, 1986; 1991, 474; 1997, 1579; 2001, 1555, 2599; 2003, 180, 2770; 2005, 2660; 2009, 1226)