Researcher: JSB Page 1 3/27/23
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 916
AN ACT CONCERNING FORECLOSURE, ASSIGNMENT AND
OTHER ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS FOR UNPAID SEWER
ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER FEES AND CHARGES.
SUMMARY
This bill imposes restrictions on assigning or enforcing liens for
delinquent sewer benefit assessments (assessments) or sewer use and
connection charges (charges).
Under the bill, liens on owner-occupied property for municipal or
regional sewer or water pollution control authority (WPCA)
assessments or charges are not assignable or subject to certain
enforcement actions until the principal exceeds $4,000. Unlike liens
imposed by regional entities, for municipal WPCA liens, this threshold
is calculated separately for (1) use and connection charges and (2)
benefit assessments.
Current law provides no minimum amount below which a WPCA
lien cannot be assigned. (But unchanged by the bill, existing law
generally prohibits assignees from reassigning liens without a
municipality’s consent.)
Current law also authorizes several lien enforcement options that do
not require waiting until the delinquency exceeds a specific monetary
threshold. However, unchanged by the bill, existing law prohibits
assignees from bringing a foreclosure suit within one year after
acquiring the lien. By law, WPCA liens (like property tax liens) become
unenforceable if they are not enforced within 15 years of becoming due
(CGS § 12-175).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2023, and applicable to actions filed on
or after that date. 2023SB-00916-R000218-BA.DOCX
Researcher: JSB Page 2 3/27/23
ENFORCING WPCA LIENS
In addition to limiting lien assignments, the bill limits the
enforcement actions available to collect on WPCA liens on owner-
occupied properties in the following ways:
1. municipal WPCA assessments cannot be enforced (e.g., through
foreclosure or non-judicial tax sale) until the combined principal
exceeds $4,000 (§ 1);
2. municipal WPCA charges cannot be foreclosed until the
combined principal exceeds $4,000 (§ 2); and
3. regional WPCA assessments and charges cannot be foreclosed or
subject to a civil recovery action until the combined principal
exceeds $4,000 (§ 3).
BACKGROUND
Related Bill
SB 1142, favorably reported by the Planning and Development
Committee, reduces the interest rate on delinquent property taxes (and
certain other assessments) from 18% to 12% per year.
HB 6751, favorably reported by the Banking Committee, (1) reduces,
from 18% to 12%, the annual interest rate on delinquent property taxes
(and certain other assessments) from when the lien is assigned to a third
party and (2) provides that attorney’s fees may not be received, claimed,
or collected until a foreclosure action or a suit on certain debts owed to
municipalities and regional authorities starts, and caps them at 15% of
the judgement amount.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 8 (03/08/2023)