83R26528 E
By: Rodriguez of Travis H.B. No. 2687
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2687:
By: Hilderbran C.S.H.B. No. 2687
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a taxing unit to prohibit certain
transfers of ad valorem tax liens.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 32.06, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (a-5) and amending Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(a-5) Within 15 days of any action taken by the governing
body of the taxing unit pursuant to Subsection (a-2), the governing
body of the taxing unit shall send written notification of the
action to the tax assessor-collector who collects taxes for the
taxing unit.
(b) The governing body of a taxing unit may prohibit, in the
manner required by law for official action by the governing body,
the transfer under Subsection (a-2) of tax liens that exist in favor
of the taxing unit. If a transferee authorized to pay a property
owner's taxes pursuant to Subsection (a-1) pays the taxes and any
penalties and interest imposed, the collector shall issue a tax
receipt to that transferee. In addition, the collector or a person
designated by the collector shall certify that the taxes and any
penalties and interest on the subject property and collection costs
have been paid by the transferee on behalf of the property owner
and, if the taxing unit has not prohibited the transfer of tax
liens, transfer [that] the taxing unit's tax lien [is transferred]
to that transferee. The collector shall attach to the certified
statement the collector's seal of office or sign the statement
before a notary public and deliver a tax receipt and the statement,
if any, attesting to the transfer of the tax lien to the transferee
within 30 days. The tax receipt and statement may be combined into
one document. The collector shall identify in a discrete field in
the applicable property owner's account the date of the transfer of
a tax lien transferred under this section. When a tax lien is
released, the transferee shall file a release with the county clerk
of each county in which the property encumbered by the lien is
located for recordation by the clerk and send a copy to the
collector. The transferee may charge the property owner a
reasonable fee for filing the release.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a tax lien created on or after the effective date of this Act. A
tax lien that was created before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.