LIENS,FORECLOSURE

 

§246-55  Tax liens; co-owners' rights;foreclosure; limitation.  (a)  Every tax due upon real property, as definedby section 246-1, shall be a paramount lien upon the property assessed, whichlien shall attach as of July 1 in each tax year and shall continue for sixyears.  If proceedings for the enforcement or foreclosure of the lien arebrought within the applicable period hereinabove designated, the lien shallcontinue until the termination of the proceedings or the completion of theforeclosure sale.

(b)  In case of cotenancy, if one cotenantpays, within the period of the aforesaid government lien, all of the realproperty taxes, interest, penalties, and other additions to the tax, due anddelinquent at the time of payment, the cotenant shall have, pro tanto, a lienon the interest of any noncontributing cotenant upon recording in the bureau ofconveyances, within ninety days after the payment so made by the cotenant, asworn notice setting forth the amount claimed, a brief description of the landaffected by tax key or otherwise, sufficient to identify it, the tax year oryears, and the name of the cotenant upon whose interest such lien is asserted.When a notice of such tax lien is recorded by a cotenant, the registrar shallforthwith cause the same to be indexed in the general indexes of the bureau ofconveyances.  In case the land affected is registered in the land court and isnot a leasehold time share interest as described in section 501-20, the noticeshall also contain a reference to the number of the certificate of title ofsuch land and shall be filed and registered in the office of the assistantregistrar of the land court, and the registrar, in the registrar's capacity asassistant registrar of the land court, shall make a notation of the filingthereof on each land court certificate of title so specified.

The cotenant's lien shall have the samepriority as the lien or liens of the government for the taxes paid by thecotenant, and may be enforced by an action in the nature of a suit in equity.The lien shall continue for three years after recording or registering, oruntil termination of the proceedings for enforcement thereof if suchproceedings are begun and notice of the pendency thereof is recorded or filedand registered as provided by law, within the period.

(c)  The director or the director'ssubordinate, in case of a government lien, and the creditor cotenant, in caseof a cotenant's lien, at the expense of the debtor, upon payment of the amountof the lien, shall execute and deliver to the debtor a sworn satisfactionthereof, including a reference to the name of the person assessed or cotenantaffected as shown in the original notice, the date of filing of the originalnotice, a description of the land involved and, except with respect to aleasehold time share interest as described in section 501-20, the number of thecertificate of title of such land if registered in the land court, which, whenrecorded in the bureau of conveyances or filed and registered in the office ofthe assistant registrar of the land court, in the case of a cotenant's lien,which contains the reference to the book and page or document number of theoriginal lien, shall be entered in the general indexes of the bureau ofconveyances, and if a notation of the original notice was made on any landcourt certificate of title the filing of such satisfaction shall also be notedon the certificate.

This section as to cotenancy shall apply, aswell, in any case of ownership by more than one assessable person.

(d)  Upon enforcement or foreclosure by thegovernment, in any manner whatsoever, of any such real property tax lien, alltaxes of whatsoever nature and howsoever accruing due at the time of theforeclosure sale from the taxpayer against whose property such tax lien is soenforced or foreclosed shall be satisfied as far as possible out of theproceeds of the sale remaining after payment of (1) the costs and expenses ofthe enforcement and foreclosure including a title search, if any, (2) the amountof subsisting real property tax liens, and (3) the amount of any recorded liensagainst the property, in the order of their priority.

The liens may be enforced by action of the taxcollector in the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the property issituate, and jurisdiction is conferred upon the circuit courts to hear anddetermine all proceedings brought or instituted to enforce and foreclose suchtax liens, and the proceedings had before the circuit courts shall be conductedin the same manner and form as ordinary foreclosure proceedings.  If the ownersor claimants of the property against which a lien is sought to be foreclosedare at the time without the State or cannot be served within the State, or ifthe owners are unknown, and the fact shall be made to appear by affidavit tothe satisfaction of the court, and it shall in like manner appear prima faciethat a cause of action exists against such owners or claimants or against theproperty described in the complaint or that such owners or claimants arenecessary or proper parties to the action, the court may grant an order thatthe service may be made in the manner provided by sections 634-23 to 634-27.

In any such case it shall not be necessary toobtain judgment and have execution issued and returned unsatisfied, beforeproceeding to foreclose the lien for taxes in the manner herein provided. [L1932 2d, c 40, §65; RL 1935, §1960; RL 1945, §5167; am L 1945, c 220, §1; am L1955, c 238, §4; RL 1955, §128-38; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §16; am L 1966, c 33,§3; am L 1967, c 255, §§38, 46; HRS §246-55; am L 1969, c 170, §25; am L 1970,c 49, §1; am L 1973, c 133, §9; am L 1975, c 157, §24; am L 1978, c 115, §1;gen ch 1985; am L 1986, c 339, §22; am L 1989, c 47, §2; am L 1998, c 219, §5]

 

Case Notes

 

  Tripartite priorityproblem ‑ State, Federal, private persons. 113 F. Supp. 702.

  When tax becomes lienunder prior law.  16 H. 92.