§ 44-53-9 - Notice of seizure – Sale of property.
SECTION 44-53-9
§ 44-53-9 Notice of seizure – Sale ofproperty. – (a) As soon as practicable after seizure of property, notice, in writing, shallbe given by the tax administrator to the owner of the property, or, in the caseof personal property, the processor, or shall be left at their usual place ofabode or business, if they have a place of abode or business within the state.If the owners cannot be readily located, or have no dwelling or place ofbusiness within the state, the notice may be mailed to their last knownaddress. The notice shall specify the sum demanded and shall contain, in thecase of personal property, an account of the property seized and, in the caseof real property, a description with reasonable certainty of the propertyseized.
(b) The tax administrator shall as soon as practicable afterthe seizure of the property give notice to the owner, in the manner prescribedin subsection (a) of this section, and shall cause notification to be publishedin some newspaper published or generally circulated within the county where theseizure is made, or, if there be is newspaper published or generally circulatedin that county, shall post the notice at the city or town hall nearest theplace where the seizure is made, and in not less than two (2) other publicplaces. The notice shall specify the property to be sold and the time, place,manner, and conditions of the sale of the property. Whenever levy is madewithout regard to the ten (10) day period provided in § 44-53-1, publicnotice of sale of the property seized shall not be made within the ten (10) dayperiod unless § 44-53-10 is applicable.
(c) If any property liable to levy is not divisible, enablingthe tax administrator by sale of a part of the property to raise the wholeamount of the tax expenses, the whole of the property shall be sold.
(d) The time of sale shall not be less than ten (10) days normore than forty (40) days from the time of giving public notice undersubsection (b) of this section. The sale may be adjourned from time to time,but the adjournments shall not be for a period to exceed, in all, one month.
(e) Before the sale, the tax administrator shall determine aminimum price for which the property shall be sold, and if no person offers theminimum price for the property at the sale, the property shall be declared tobe purchased at that price for the state; otherwise the property shall bedeclared to be sold to the highest bidder. In determining the minimum price,the tax administrator shall take into account the expense of making the levyand sale.
(2) The tax administrator may by regulations prescribe themanner and other conditions of the sale of property seized by levy.
(3) If payment in full is required at the time of acceptanceof a bid and is not then and there paid, the tax administrator shallimmediately proceed to again sell the property as provided under thissubsection. If the conditions of the sale permit part of the payment to bedeferred, and if that part is not paid within the prescribed period, suit maybe instituted against the purchaser for the purchase price or the part of theprice that has not been paid, together with interest at the rate prescribed in§ 44-1-7 from the date of the sale; or, in the discretion of the taxadministrator, the sale may be declared by the tax administrator to be null andvoid for failure to make full payment of the purchase price and the propertymay again be advertised and sold as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of thissection and this subsection. In the event of re-advertisement and sale, any newpurchaser shall receive the property, or rights to property, free and clear ofany claim or right to the former defaulting purchaser, of any naturewhatsoever, and the amount paid upon the bid price by the defaulting purchasershall be forfeited.