§ 44-9-11 - Notice to mortgagees and other parties in interest.
SECTION 44-9-11
§ 44-9-11 Notice to mortgagees and otherparties in interest. – (a) In case the collector shall advertise for sale any property, real,personal, or mixed, in which any person other than the person to whom the taxis assessed has an interest, it shall not be necessary for the collector tonotify the interested party, except for the following interested parties,provided that their interest was of record at least ninety (90) days prior tothe date set for the sale: the present owner of record, mortgagees of recordand mortgage assignees of record, former fee holders whose right to redeem hasnot been foreclosed, holders of tax title, federal agencies having a recordedlien on the subject property, holders of life estates of record, and vestedremainder whose identity can be ascertained from an examination of the land orprobate records of the municipality conducting the sale, and/or their assigneesof record who shall be notified by the collector either by registered orcertified mail sent postpaid not less than twenty (20) days before the date ofsale or any adjournment of the sale, to an agent authorized by appointment orby law to receive service of process, or to the address of the party ininterest set forth in the recorded mortgage document or the recordedassignment, or to the last known address of the party in interest, but nonotice of adjournments shall be necessary other than the announcement made atthe sale. The posting and publication of the notice of the time and place ofsale in the manner provided by § 44-9-9 shall be deemed sufficient noticeto all other interested parties. This provision shall apply to all taxes leviedprior to and subsequent to 1896. This provision shall be subject to the noticerequirements of § 44-9-10. It shall not be necessary, however, to providethe names of the mortgagees and other parties in interest under this section tothe Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation or to the departmentof elderly affairs.
(b) Only a person or entity failing to receive notice inaccordance with the provisions of this section and §§ 44-9-9 and44-9-10 shall be entitled to raise the issue of lack of notice or defectivenotice to void the tax sale. The right to notice shall be personal to eachparty entitled to it and shall not be asserted on behalf of another party ininterest. If there is a defect in notice, the tax sale shall be void only as tothe party deprived of adequate notice, but shall be valid as to all otherparties in interest who received proper notice of the tax sale.
(c) Once a petition is filed under § 44-9-25, and anyparty in interest entitled to notice of the tax sale receives actual notice ofthe pendency of the petition to foreclose, the party must raise the noticedefense in accordance with the provisions of § 44-9-31 or be estopped fromalleging lack of notice in any action to vacate a final decree entered inaccordance with § 44-9-30.