SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1144
101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR CRAWFORD.
5539S.01I ADRIANE D. CROUSE, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 140.170 and 140.190, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections
relating to the sale of lands with delinquent property taxes.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 140.170 and 140.190, RSMo, are 1
repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be 2
known as sections 140.170 and 140.190, to read as follows:3
140.170. 1. Except for lands described in subsection 1
7 of this section, the coun ty collector shall cause a copy 2
of the list of delinquent lands and lots to be printed in 3
some newspaper of general circulation published in the 4
county for three consecutive weeks, one insertion weekly, 5
before the sale, the last insertion to be at leas t fifteen 6
days prior to the fourth Monday in August. 7
2. In addition to the names of all record owners or 8
the names of all owners appearing on the land tax book it is 9
only necessary in the printed and published list to state in 10
the aggregate the amount of taxes, penalty, interest and 11
cost due thereon, each year separately stated. 12
3. To the list shall be attached and in like manner 13
printed and published a notice of said lands and lots 14
stating that said land and lots will be sold at public 15
auction to discharge the taxes, penalty, interest, and costs 16
due thereon at the time of sale in or adjacent to the 17
courthouse of such county, on the fourth Monday in August 18 SB 1144 2
next thereafter, commencing at ten o'clock of said day and 19
continuing from day to day thereafter until all are 20
offered. Such auction may also be conducted by electronic 21
media, including the internet, at the same time and at the 22
discretion of the county collector. 23
4. The county collector, on or before the day of sale, 24
shall insert at the foot of the list on his or her record a 25
copy of the notice and certify on his or her record 26
immediately following the notice the name of the newspaper 27
of the county in which the notice was printed and published 28
and the dates of insertion s thereof in the newspaper. 29
5. The expense of such printing shall be paid out of 30
the county treasury and shall not exceed the rate provided 31
for in chapter 493, relating to legal publications, notices 32
and advertisements, and the cost of printing at the rate 33
paid by the county shall be taxed as part of the costs of 34
the sale of any land or lot contained in the list. 35
6. The county collector shall cause the affidavit of 36
the printer, editor or publisher of the newspaper in which 37
the list of delinquent lands and notice of sale was 38
published, as provided by section 493.060, with the list and 39
notice attached, to be recorded in the office of the 40
recorder of deeds of the county, and the recorder shall not 41
charge or receive any fees for recording the same. 42
7. The county collector may have a separate list of 43
such lands, without legal descriptions or the names of the 44
record owners, printed in a newspaper of general circulation 45
published in such county for three consecutive weeks before 46
the sale of such lands for a parcel or lot of land that: 47
(1) Has an assessed value of one thousand five hundred 48
dollars or less and has been advertised previously; or 49 SB 1144 3
(2) Is a lot in a development of twenty or more lots 50
and such lot has an assess ed value of one thousand five 51
hundred dollars or less. 52
The notice shall state that legal descriptions and the names 53
of the record owners of such lands shall be posted at any 54
county courthouse within the county and the office of the 55
county collector. 56
8. If, in the opinion of the county collector, an 57
adequate legal description of the delinquent land and lots 58
cannot be obtained through researching the documents 59
available through the recorder of deeds, the collector may 60
commission a professional land surveyor to prepare an 61
adequate legal description of the delinquent land and lots 62
in question. The costs of any commissioned land survey 63
deemed necessary by the county collector shall be taxed as 64
part of the costs of the sale of any land or lots contained 65
in the list prepared under this section. 66
140.190. 1. On the day mentioned in the notice, the 1
county collector shall commence the sale of such lands, and 2
shall continue the same from day to day until each parcel 3
assessed or belonging to each person assessed shall be sold 4
as will pay the taxes, interest and charges thereon, or 5
chargeable to such person in said county. 6
2. The person or land bank agency offering at said 7
sale, whether in person or by electronic media, to pay the 8
required sum for a tract shall be considered the purchaser 9
of such land; provided, no sale shall be made to any person 10
or designated agent who is currently delinquent on any tax 11
payments on any property, other than a delinquency on the 12
property being offered for sale, and who does not sign an 13
affidavit stating such at the time of sale. Failure to sign 14 SB 1144 4
such affidavit as well as signing a false affidavit may 15
invalidate such sale. No bid shall be received from any 16
person not a resident o f the state of Missouri or a foreign 17
corporation or entity all deemed nonresidents. A 18
nonresident shall file with said collector an agreement in 19
writing consenting to the jurisdiction of the circuit court 20
of the county in which such sale shall be made , and also 21
filing with such collector an appointment of some citizen of 22
said county as agent of said nonresident, and consenting 23
that service of process on such agent shall give such court 24
jurisdiction to try and determine any suit growing out of or 25
connected with such sale for taxes. After the delinquent 26
auction sale, any certificate of purchase shall be issued to 27
the agent. After meeting the requirements of section 28
140.405, the property shall be conveyed to the agent on 29
behalf of the nonresiden t, and the agent shall thereafter 30
convey the property to the nonresident. 31
3. All such written consents to jurisdiction and 32
selective appointments shall be preserved by the county 33
collector and shall be binding upon any person or 34
corporation claiming under the person consenting to 35
jurisdiction and making the appointment herein referred to; 36
provided further, that in the event of the death, disability 37
or refusal to act of the person appointed as agent of said 38
nonresident the county clerk shall be come the appointee as 39
agent of said nonresident. 40
4. No person residing in any home rule city with more 41
than seventy-one thousand but fewer than seventy -nine 42
thousand inhabitants shall be eligible to offer to purchase 43
lands under this section unle ss such person has, no later 44
than ten days before the sale date, demonstrated to the 45
satisfaction of the official charged by law with conducting 46 SB 1144 5
the sale that the person is not the owner of any parcel of 47
real property that has two or more violations of the 48
municipality's building or housing codes. A prospective 49
bidder may make such a demonstration by presenting 50
statements from the appropriate collection and code 51
enforcement officials of the municipality. This subsection 52
shall not apply to any tax ing authority or land bank agency, 53
and entities shall be eligible to bid at any sale conducted 54
under this section without making such a demonstration. 55