§ 44-53-9. Notice of seizure - Sale of property. (a) As soon as practicable after seizure of property, notice, in writing, shall be given by the tax administrator to the owner of the property, or, in the case of personal property, the processor, or shall be left at their usual place of abode or business, if they have a place of abode or business within the state. If the owners cannot be readily located, or have no dwelling or place of business within the state, the notice may be mailed to their last known address. The notice shall specify the sum demanded and shall contain, in the case of personal property, an account of the property seized and, in the case of real property, a description with reasonable certainty of the property seized.

(b) The tax administrator shall as soon as practicable after the seizure of the property give notice to the owner, in the manner prescribed in subsection (a) of this section, and shall cause notification to be published in some newspaper published or generally circulated within the county where the seizure is made, or, if there be is newspaper published or generally circulated in that county, shall post the notice at the city or town hall nearest the place where the seizure is made, and in not less than two (2) other public places. The notice shall specify the property to be sold and the time, place, manner, and conditions of the sale of the property. Whenever levy is made without regard to the ten (10) day period provided in § 44-53-1, public notice of sale of the property seized shall not be made within the ten (10) day period unless § 44-53-10 is applicable.

(c) If any property liable to levy is not divisible, enabling the tax administrator by sale of a part of the property to raise the whole amount of the tax expenses, the whole of the property shall be sold.

(d) The time of sale shall not be less than ten (10) days nor more than forty (40) days from the time of giving public notice under subsection (b) of this section. The sale may be adjourned from time to time, but the adjournments shall not be for a period to exceed, in all, one month.

(e)(1) Before the sale, the tax administrator shall determine a minimum price for which the property shall be sold, and if no person offers the minimum price for the property at the sale, the property shall be declared to be purchased at that price for the state; otherwise the property shall be declared to be sold to the highest bidder. In determining the minimum price, the tax administrator shall take into account the expense of making the levy and sale.

(2) The tax administrator may by regulations prescribe the manner and other conditions of the sale of property seized by levy.

(3) If payment in full is required at the time of acceptance of a bid and is not then and there paid, the tax administrator shall immediately proceed to again sell the property as provided under this subsection. If the conditions of the sale permit part of the payment to be deferred, and if that part is not paid within the prescribed period, suit may be instituted against the purchaser for the purchase price or the part of the price that has not been paid, together with interest at the rate prescribed in § 44-1-7 from the date of the sale; or, in the discretion of the tax administrator, the sale may be declared by the tax administrator to be null and void for failure to make full payment of the purchase price and the property may again be advertised and sold as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section and this subsection. In the event of re-advertisement and sale, any new purchaser shall receive the property, or rights to property, free and clear of any claim or right to the former defaulting purchaser, of any nature whatsoever, and the amount paid upon the bid price by the defaulting purchaser shall be forfeited.

History of Section. (P.L. 1993, ch. 138, art. 68, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 354, § 40.)