TITLE 44

Taxation

CHAPTER 44-9

Tax Sales

SECTION 44-9-11



   § 44-9-11  Notice to mortgagees and other

parties 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 tax

is assessed has an interest, it shall not be necessary for the collector to

notify the interested party, except for the following interested parties,

provided that their interest was of record at least ninety (90) days prior to

the date set for the sale: the present owner of record; mortgagees of record

and mortgage assignees of record; former fee holders whose right to redeem has

not been foreclosed; holders of tax title; federal agencies having a recorded

lien on the subject property; holders of life estates of record and vested

remainder, whose identity can be ascertained from an examination of the land or

probate records of the municipality conducting the sale; and/or their assignees

of record who shall be notified by the collector, either by registered or

certified mail sent postpaid not less than twenty (20) days before the date of

sale or any adjournment of the sale to an agent authorized by appointment or by

law to receive service of process; or to the address of the party in interest

set forth in the recorded mortgage document or the recorded assignment; or to

the last known address of the party in interest; but no notice of adjournments

shall be necessary other than the announcement made at the sale. The posting

and publication of the notice of the time and place of sale in the manner

provided by § 44-9-9 shall be deemed sufficient notice to all other

interested parties. This provision shall apply to all taxes levied prior to and

subsequent to 1896. This provision shall be subject to the notice requirements

of § 44-9-10. It shall not be necessary, however, to provide the names of

the mortgagees and other parties in interest under this section to the Rhode

Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation or to the department of elderly

affairs. In the event that the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance

Corporation does in fact pay the tax and acquire a lien on the subject

property, then the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation shall,

within ninety (90) days of making the tax payment, notify those mortgagees of

record and mortgagee assignees of record whose interests in the property was of

record at least ninety (90) days prior to the date set for the tax sale as

identified in the recorded collector's deed of the fact that the taxes have

been paid by the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation and that

a tax lien has been acquired by the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance

Corporation.



   (b) Only a person or entity failing to receive notice in

accordance with the provisions of this section and §§ 44-9-9 and

44-9-10 shall be entitled to raise the issue of lack of notice or defective

notice to void the tax sale. The right to notice shall be personal to each

party entitled to it and shall not be asserted on behalf of another party in

interest. If there is a defect in notice, the tax sale shall be void only as to

the party deprived of adequate notice, but shall be valid as to all other

parties in interest who received proper notice of the tax sale.



   (c) Once a petition is filed under § 44-9-25, and any

party in interest entitled to notice of the tax sale receives actual notice of

the pendency of the petition to foreclose, the party must raise the notice

defense in accordance with the provisions of § 44-9-31 or be estopped from

alleging lack of notice in any action to vacate a final decree entered in

accordance with § 44-9-30.



History of Section.

(G.L. 1896, ch. 48, § 12; G.L. 1909, ch. 60, § 14; G.L. 1923, ch. 62,

§ 14; G.L. 1938, ch. 32, §§ 14, 31; P.L. 1939, ch. 695, §

1; P.L. 1946, ch. 1800, § 1; impl. am. P.L. 1956, ch. 3717, § 1; G.L.

1956, § 44-9-11; P.L. 2001, ch. 192, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 140, §

1; P.L. 2003, ch. 262, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 534, § 3; P.L. 2006, ch.

537, § 3; P.L. 2015, ch. 247, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 271, §

1.)