Researcher: JSB Page 1 5/18/23
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 916 (File 218, as amended by Senate "A")*
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 (1) the principal exceeds $4,000 or (2) five
years have passed since the lien was filed and it remains unpaid. Unlike
liens imposed by regional entities, for municipal WPCA liens, the
monetary 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. Similarly, it does not impose a blanket waiting
period before assigning a lien. (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, existing law prohibits assignees from bringing a
foreclosure suit within one year after acquiring the lien. By law, WPCA
liens (like property tax liens) generally become unenforceable if they are
not enforced within 15 years of becoming due (CGS § 12-175).
*Senate Amendment “A” adds the alternative threshold for assigning 2023SB-00916-R01-BA.DOCX
Researcher: JSB Page 2 5/18/23
and enforcing the liens (i.e., the passage of five years without payment).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2023, and applicable to actions filed on
or after that date.
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 by imposing the following monetary thresholds:
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).
Alternatively, if the above monetary thresholds are not met, liens can
be enforced if five years have passed since the lien was filed and it is still
unpaid.
BACKGROUND
Related Bill
SB 1142 (File 434), favorably reported by the Planning and
Development and Appropriations committees, reduces the interest rate
on delinquent property taxes (and certain other assessments) from 18%
to 12% per year.
HB 6751 (File 206), 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 2023SB-00916-R01-BA.DOCX
Researcher: JSB Page 3 5/18/23
caps them at 15% of the judgement amount.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 8 (03/08/2023)