§ 28-40-14 - Contributions as debt to state – Lien on real estate.
SECTION 28-40-14
§ 28-40-14 Contributions as debt to state– Lien on real estate. – (a) The amount of any contributions, interest, and penalties imposed upon anyemployer under this chapter shall:
(i) Be a debt due to the state;
(ii) Constitute a trust fund for the state until paid to thedirector;
(iii) Be recoverable at law in the same manner as otherdebts; and
(iv) Until collected constitute a lien upon all the realproperty located in this state of the following persons or entities:
(A) The employer;
(B) Any officer, agent, servant, or employee of any corporateemployer responsible for either the withholding or payment, or both, of thecontribution; and
(C) Any person receiving any part of the fund withoutconsideration, or knowing that the employer or any officer, agent, servant, oremployee or any corporate employer is committing a breach of trust.
(2) The lien shall take precedence over any other lien orencumbrance on that property except as provided in this section. The directormay file a notice of that tax lien with the records of land evidence for thecity or town where that property is located and it shall be the duty of therecorder of deeds or the city or town clerk having custody of those records toreceive, file, and index that notice under the name of the lienee. Any of thepreceding provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding, the lienimposed by this section shall not be valid with respect to property in any cityor town as against any bona fide purchaser, mortgagee, or lessee, whoseinterest in that real property appears of record in that city or town prior tothe time of filing of that notice of tax lien in that city or town.
(b) The notice of the tax lien filed shall: (1) be inwriting; (2) contain the name and last known address of the lienee, and (3)state that the lienee is indebted to the state under this chapter. The noticeneed not describe the lienee's property, or specify the amount of contributionsowed, or the period of time covered by the delinquency. When the notice isfiled in a city or town by the director, it shall, unless sooner discharged orreleased, also apply to property in the city or town subsequently acquired bythe lienee during a period of six (6) years from the date of filing and thatfiling need not be repeated for each successive delinquency of the lienee. Thenotice shall expire six (6) years from the date of filing unless renewed byagain filing a similar notice on or before the expiration date. The directorshall be obliged to discharge or release the notice of lien when the lienee isno longer delinquent in the payment of any contributions, interest, orpenalties, whether incurred prior or subsequent to the date of filing of thatnotice, or upon request, following the expiration of the statutory lien period,as set forth in this section.
(c) For the filing of a notice of lien or discharge of alien, the recorder of deeds or the city or town clerk shall be paid, out of anymoney appropriated for expenses of the director, a fee of four dollars ($4.00)for a completed entry.
(d) The authority granted in this section to the director tofile a notice of lien shall not be held to repeal or amend in any other respect§ 28-39-19.