§ 28-43-20 - Contributions as debt to state – Lien on real estate.
SECTION 28-43-20
§ 28-43-20 Contributions as debt to state– Lien on real estate. – (a) The amount of any contributions, interest, and penalties imposed upon anyemployer under the provisions of this chapter shall be a debt due from thatemployer to the state, shall be recoverable at law in the same manner as otherdebts, and shall until collected constitute a lien upon all the real propertyof that employer located in this state. That lien shall take precedence overany other lien or encumbrance on that property except as subsequently provided.The director may file a notice of that tax lien with the records of landevidence for the city or town where that property is located and it shall bethe duty of the recorder of deeds or the city or town clerk having custody ofthose records to receive, file, and index that notice under the name of theemployer. Notwithstanding any of the preceding provisions of this section tothe contrary, the lien imposed by this section shall not be valid with respectto property in any city or town as against any bona fide purchaser, mortgagee,or lessee whose interest in that real property appears of record in the city ortown prior to the time of filing of the notice of tax lien in that city or town.
(b) The notice of the filed tax lien shall be in writing,shall contain the name and last known address of the employer, and shall statethat the employer is indebted to the state of Rhode Island under this chapterfor which the director claims a lien; that notice need not describe theemployer's property, or specify the amount of taxes owed, or the period of timecovered by the delinquency. When a notice is filed in a city or town by thedirector, it shall, unless sooner discharged or released, also apply toproperty in the same city or town subsequently acquired by the employer duringa period of six (6) years from the date of filing, and that filing need not berepeated for each successive delinquency of the employer. The notice shallexpire six (6) years from the date of filing unless renewed by again filing anotice on or before that expiration date. The director shall discharge orrelease the notice of lien when the employer is no longer delinquent in thepayment of any contributions, interest, or penalties, whether incurred prior orsubsequent to the date of filing of the notice, or upon request, following theexpiration of the statutory lien period, as set forth in this subsection.
(c) For the filing of a notice of lien or for its discharge,the recorder of deeds or the city or town clerk shall be paid out of any moneyappropriated for expenses, a fee of four dollars ($4.00) for a completed entry.
(d) The authority granted to the director to file a notice oflien shall not be held to repeal or amend in any other respect the provisionsof § 28-42-38.