§ 14-90-911 - Proceedings before filing delinquency suit.
14-90-911. Proceedings before filing delinquency suit.
(a) (1) Before filing suit to collect delinquent municipal improvement district installments, the board of improvement shall obtain from the county tax collector or the officials having the delinquent list a certified list of all lots, blocks, and parcels of lands unredeemed.
(2) This list shall contain the description and the name of the supposed owner.
(3) For preparing the list, the clerk or person preparing it shall be entitled to ten cents (10cent(s)) per tract, which shall be charged to the delinquent lands and collected from the owners when the lands are redeemed or charged as costs in the foreclosure suit.
(b) (1) The board shall submit the list to a competent abstractor, who shall compile a list of the names and last known addresses of the owners of record of all tracts included in the list prepared by the collector and shall certify as to the source of the addresses furnished by him.
(2) For these services, they may pay the abstractor such sum as may be reasonable and customary, not to exceed fifty cents (50cent(s)) for each lot, block, or parcel.
(c) Certified copies of both lists shall be attached as exhibits to the complaint.
(d) Twenty (20) days prior to the filing of the complaint, the board shall cause to be mailed, by certified mail with return receipt requested, to each record owner as listed by the abstractor, a notice describing the delinquent property, specifying the year of delinquency and the amount or the approximate amount necessary for redemption, and informing the owner as to the date on which the suit will be filed.
(e) (1) As an exhibit to the complaint, there shall be attached an affidavit of the person who mailed the notices.
(2) The affidavit shall:
(A) Set forth a copy of the notice;
(B) Show:
(i) The date the notices were mailed;
(ii) The names and addresses of the last owners of record; and
(iii) To whom the notices were mailed; and
(C) Contain a list of all notices which, because of insufficient addresses, were returned prior to the filing of the complaint.
(f) The amounts expended by the board in obtaining the list of the last owners of record from the abstractor and in sending the registered letters shall be certified by the board to the collector and shall be charged on a per tract basis to the delinquent lands and collected from the owners when the lands are redeemed, or charged as costs in the foreclosure suit.