77-1832. Real property taxes; issuance of treasurer's tax deed; service of notice; upon whom made.

(1) Service of the notice provided by section 77-1831 shall be made by:

(a) Personal or residence service as described in section 25-505.01 upon a person in actual possession or occupancy of the real property and upon the person in whose name the title to the real property appears of record who can be found in this state. If a person in actual possession or occupancy of the real property cannot be served by personal or residence service, service of the notice shall be made upon such person by certified mail service or designated delivery service as described in section 25-505.01, and the notice shall be sent to the address of the property. If the person in whose name the title to the real property appears of record cannot be found in this state or if such person cannot be served by personal or residence service, service of the notice shall be made upon such person by certified mail service or designated delivery service as described in section 25-505.01, and the notice shall be sent to the name and address to which the property tax statement was mailed; and

(b) Certified mail or designated delivery service as described in section 25-505.01 upon every encumbrancer of record found by the title search required in section 77-1833. The notice shall be sent to the encumbrancer's name and address appearing of record as shown in the encumbrance filed with the register of deeds.

(2) Personal or residence service shall be made by the county sheriff of the county where service is made or by a person authorized by section 25-507. The sheriff or other person serving the notice shall be entitled to the statutory fee prescribed in section 33-117.

Source

Annotations

Under this section, service need only be provided to the owner of record at the address where the property tax statement was mailed and may only be done by certified mail, return receipt requested. Wisner v. Vandelay Investments, 300 Neb. 825, 916 N.W.2d 698 (2018).

Notice to a sanitary improvement district, as titleholder to five parcels of real estate, of pending issuance of tax deeds to a holder of tax certificates on those parcels was sufficient under this section where a real estate transfer form designated the address of the district's attorney as the address where tax statements should be sent; the certificate holder sent redemption notices by certified mail, receipt requested, to that address; and the certificate holder provided affidavits of service and proof of publication to the county treasurer when applying for the tax deeds. SID No. 424 v. Tristar Mgmt., 288 Neb. 425, 850 N.W.2d 745 (2014).

Actual occupancy or possession means such occupancy or possession as would put an ordinarily prudent man on notice by observation of the premises involved. Thomas v. Flynn, 169 Neb. 458, 100 N.W.2d 37 (1959).

Service of notice must be made upon the person in whose name the title appears of record, and upon occupant in possession. Kuska v. Kubat, 147 Neb. 139, 22 N.W.2d 484 (1946).

Personal service is not necessary if owner dead. Sanford v. Scott, 105 Neb. 479, 181 N.W. 148 (1920).

Notice must be served on person in whose name assessed, and failure to serve notice or show necessity for service by publication renders subsequent proceedings void. Howell v. Jordan, 94 Neb. 264, 143 N.W. 217 (1913).

Notice to actual occupant is essential. Parsons v. Prudential R. E. Co., 86 Neb. 271, 125 N.W. 521 (1910).

Service of notice is not essential to foreclosure of lien by purchaser. Carman v. Harris, 61 Neb. 635, 85 N.W. 848 (1901); Merrill v. Ijams, 58 Neb. 706, 79 N.W. 734 (1899).