(a) Any Class 3 municipality may initiate an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action under this section against a parcel of tax sale property located within its municipal limits and purchased by the municipality from the State Land Commissioner. The municipality shall record, in the office of the judge of probate in the county in which the property is located, a notice of its intention to file an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action. The notice shall include a legal description of the property, street address of the property if available, a statement that the property is subject to expedited quiet title and foreclosure proceedings under this chapter, and a statement that those proceedings may extinguish any legal interests in the property. As used herein, "interested parties" shall mean the owner, his or her heirs or personal representatives, any mortgagee or purchaser of the subject property or any part thereof, and any party with an interest in the property, or in any part thereof, legal or equitable, in severalty or as tenant in common, including a judgment creditor or other creditor having a lien thereon, or any part thereof.
(b) The municipality shall make a good faith effort to identify the interested parties and the addresses at which they can be reached. The municipality shall be presumed to have made a good faith effort to identify interested parties if it does all of the following:
(1) Erects a sign not less than four feet by six feet on the property and maintains it for a minimum of 30 days, which must read as follows:
THIS PROPERTY WAS SOLD TO THE CITY OF ______________ FOR UNPAID TAXES. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE OWNER OF THIS PROPERTY, PLEASE CALL _____________.
(2) Examines the addresses that appear on the face of the recorded deeds, mortgages, and relevant instruments.
(3) Examines the records of the tax assessor or revenue commissioner to find the names and addresses of all parties who paid taxes in the five-year period prior to the date of the tax sale; provided, however, that the municipality is not required to search for parties who paid taxes more than 20 years prior to the year of the inquiry.
(4) If the interested party is an individual, examines voter registration lists, available municipal archives for records of deaths, and the probate court records of estates opened in the county in which the property is located.
(5) If the interested party is a business entity, searches the records of the Secretary of State for the name and address of a registered agent.
Last modified: May 3, 2021