29-1-45 - Cancellation of contract of sale.
§ 29-1-45. Cancellation of contract of sale.
If taxes become delinquent on lands which are contracted for sale or on any part thereof, the tax collector shall, within thirty (30) days after such delinquency, certify such fact in writing to the Secretary of State and said tax collector shall neither advertise nor sell such land at a tax sale. If said land should be sold at a tax sale, the sale shall be void as against the state, and the state's title thereto shall not be affected by said sale. Likewise, if such a tax sale is made, the tax collector shall be liable on his official bond to the purchaser at said sale in the penal sum of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus all actual damages suffered by said purchaser. Within fifteen (15) days after receipt of notice from the tax collector that said lands are delinquent for taxes, or if no notice is given by said tax collector then within thirty (30) days after the Secretary of State ascertains that there is a delinquency in the payment of taxes on said land, the Secretary of State shall cancel the contract of sale and shall, within said period of thirty (30) days, inform the contract purchaser of such cancellation by mail at the post office address contained in the application. The said notice shall be given by registered mail with return receipt requested. The Secretary of State shall likewise immediately notify the clerk of the board of supervisors of the county in which said land is situated of the cancellation and the clerk shall report said action to the board of supervisors of said county, who shall have said land stricken from the assessment roll and also stricken from the tax sale list, if the same is contained thereon. The land shall then be re-entered on the record in the Secretary of State's office, the former entry of the contract of the purchase shall be marked "canceled" on the Secretary of State's records, and the land shall become subject to disposition by the Secretary of State in the same manner as if no contract of sale had been made. In case the Secretary of State should fail to give notice of the cancellation of said contract or should fail to cancel said contract within the time stipulated herein, the Secretary of State may cancel and give said notice of cancellation on any subsequent date. If said land is located in a municipality, the acts and duties provided herein to be performed by the clerk of the board of supervisors and the board of supervisors shall be performed in like manner by the municipal clerk and the governing authorities of said municipality.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 4082; Laws, 1936, ch. 174; Laws, 1978, ch. 458, § 21, eff from and after January 1, 1980.