Connecticut 2025 2025 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB01316 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 03/25/2025

                     
 
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General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 1316  
January Session, 2025 
 
 
 
AN ACT REDUCING INTEREST DUE ON CERTAIN DELINQUENT 
MUNICIPAL PROPERTY TAXES.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 12-195h of the general statutes is repealed and the 1 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2 
(a) Any municipality, by resolution of its legislative body, as defined 3 
in section 1-1, may assign, for consideration, any and all liens filed by 4 
the tax collector to secure unpaid taxes on real property as provided 5 
under the provisions of this chapter. The consideration received by the 6 
municipality shall be negotiated between the municipality and the 7 
assignee. 8 
(b) The assignee or assignees of such liens shall have and possess the 9 
same powers and rights at law or in equity that such municipality and 10 
municipality's tax collector would have had if the lien had not been 11 
assigned with regard to the precedence and priority of such lien, the 12 
accrual of interest and the fees and expenses of collection and of 13 
preparing and recording the assignment, except that (1) 14 
notwithstanding the provisions of sections 12-145 and 12-146, for 15 
assignments executed on and after July 1, 2026, commencing on the date 16 
of assignment, interest shall accrue on the delinquent portion of the 17 
principal of the assigned tax obligation at the rate of twelve per cent per 18 
annum, and (2) any such assignee [(1)] (A) shall not be insulated from 19  Substitute Bill No. 1316 
 
 
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liability for its conduct by virtue of the provisions of section 42-110c, and 20 
[(2)] (B) shall be obligated to provide a payoff statement, as defined in 21 
section 49-8a, in the same manner as a mortgagee in accordance with the 22 
requirements of section 49-10a. The assignee shall have the same rights 23 
to enforce such liens as any private party holding a lien on real property 24 
including, but not limited to, foreclosure and a suit on the debt. 25 
(c) No such assignment executed on or after July 1, 2022, shall be valid 26 
or enforceable unless memorialized in a contract executed by the 27 
municipality and the assignee that is in writing and provides: (1) The 28 
manner in which the assignee will provide to the owner of the real 29 
property that is the subject of the assignment one or more addresses and 30 
telephone numbers that may be used for correspondence with the 31 
assignee about the debt and payment thereof; (2) the earliest and latest 32 
dates by which the assignee shall commence any foreclosure or suit on 33 
the debt or the manner for determining such dates, except as may be 34 
impacted by any payment arrangement, bankruptcy petition or other 35 
circumstance, provided in no event shall the assignee commence a 36 
foreclosure suit before one year has elapsed since the assignee's 37 
purchase of the lien; (3) the structure and rates of attorney's fees that the 38 
assignee may claim against the owner or owners of such real property 39 
in any foreclosure, suit on the debt or otherwise, and a prohibition from 40 
using as foreclosure counsel any attorney or law office that is owned by, 41 
employs or contracts with any person having an interest in such 42 
assignee; (4) confirmation that the owner of the real property for which 43 
the lien has been filed shall be a third-party beneficiary entitled to 44 
enforce the covenants and responsibilities of the assignee as contained 45 
in the contract; (5) a prohibition on the assignee assigning the lien 46 
without the municipality's prior written consent; (6) the detail and 47 
frequency of reports provided to the municipality's tax collector 48 
regarding the status of the assigned liens; (7) confirmation that the 49 
assignee is not ineligible, pursuant to section 31-57b, to be assigned the 50 
lien because of occupational safety and health law violations; (8) 51 
disclosure of (A) all resolved and pending arbitrations and litigation 52 
matters in which the assignee or any of its principals have been involved 53  Substitute Bill No. 1316 
 
 
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within the last ten years, except foreclosure actions involving liens 54 
purchased from or assigned by governmental entities, (B) all criminal 55 
proceedings that the assignee or any of its principals has ever been the 56 
subject, (C) any interest in the subject property held by the assignee or 57 
any of its principals, officers or agents, and (D) each instance in which 58 
the assignee or any of its principals was found to have violated any state 59 
or local ethics law, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or standard, or to 60 
have committed any other offense arising out of the submission of 61 
proposals or bids or the performance of work on public contract; and (9) 62 
such additional terms to which the municipality and the assignee 63 
mutually agree, consistent with applicable law. 64 
(d) The assignee, or any subsequent assignee, shall provide written 65 
notice of an assignment, not later than sixty days after the date of such 66 
assignment, to the owner and any holder of a mortgage, on the real 67 
property that is the subject of the assignment, provided such owner or 68 
holder is of record as of the date of such assignment. Such notice shall 69 
include information sufficient to identify (1) the property that is subject 70 
to the lien and in which the holder has an interest, (2) the name and 71 
addresses of the assignee, and (3) the amount of unpaid taxes, interest 72 
and fees being assigned relative to the subject property as of the date of 73 
the assignment. 74 
(e) Not less than sixty days prior to commencing an action to foreclose 75 
a lien under this section, the assignee shall provide a written notice, by 76 
first-class mail, to the holders of all first or second security interests on 77 
the property subject to the lien that were recorded before the date the 78 
assessment the lien sought to be enforced became delinquent. Such 79 
notice shall set forth: (1) The amount of unpaid debt owed to the 80 
assignee as of the date of the notice; (2) the amount of any attorney's fees 81 
and costs incurred by the assignee in the enforcement of the lien as of 82 
the date of the notice; (3) a statement of the assignee's intention to 83 
foreclose the lien if the amounts set forth pursuant to subdivisions (1) 84 
and (2) of this subsection are not paid to the assignee on or before sixty 85 
days after the date the notice is provided; (4) the assignee's contact 86 
information, including, but not limited to, the assignee's name, mailing 87  Substitute Bill No. 1316 
 
 
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address, telephone number and electronic mail address, if any; and (5) 88 
instructions concerning the acceptable means of making a payment on 89 
the amounts owed to the assignee as set forth pursuant to subdivisions 90 
(1) and (2) of this subsection. Any notice required under this subsection 91 
shall be effective upon the date such notice is provided. 92 
(f) When providing the written notice required under subsection (e) 93 
of this section, the assignee may rely on the last recorded security 94 
interest of record in identifying the name and mailing address of the 95 
holder of such interest, unless the holder of such interest is the plaintiff 96 
in an action pending in Superior Court to enforce such interest, in which 97 
case the assignee shall provide the written notice to the attorney 98 
appearing on behalf of the plaintiff. 99 
(g) Each aspect of a foreclosure, sale or other disposition under this 100 
section, including, but not limited to, the costs, attorney fees, method, 101 
advertising, time, date, place and terms, shall be commercially 102 
reasonable. 103 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 October 1, 2025 12-195h 
 
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:   
In Subsec. (b), a reference to section 12-145 of the general statutes was 
added for consistency. 
 
PD Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO