Chapter 1. Redemption Generally of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 1. >> Part 7. >> Chapter 1.

Tax-defaulted property may be redeemed until the right of redemption is terminated.

The tax collector may provide notification of the tax defaulted status of the property to the property owner. This notice is in addition to the notification required by Section 2612.

The amount necessary to redeem shall be paid in lawful money of the United States and is the sum of the following:
  (a) The total amount of all prior year defaulted taxes.
  (b) Delinquent penalties and costs.
  (c) Redemption penalties.
  (d) A redemption fee of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) on each separately valued parcel tax defaulted after June 13, 1947, and prior to June 13, 1969. A redemption fee of two dollars ($2) on each separately valued parcel tax defaulted after June 12, 1969, and prior to January 1, 1979. A redemption fee of five dollars ($5) on each separately valued parcel tax defaulted after January 1, 1979, and prior to January 1, 1984, and a redemption fee of fifteen dollars ($15) on and after that date. On property tax defaulted prior to June 13, 1947, there shall be no redemption fee collected.

(a) Redemption penalties are the sum of the following:
  (1) Beginning July 1st of the year of the declaration of tax default, on the declared amount of defaulted taxes at the rate of 1 1/2 percent a month to the time of redemption. If the last day of any month falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the additional penalty of 1 1/2 percent shall attach after the close of business on the next business day.
  (2) Beginning July 1st of each subsequent year, on the unpaid taxes for which the property would have been declared in default if there had not been a previous declaration, 1 1/2 percent a month to the time of redemption. If the last day of any month falls on Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, the additional penalty of 1 1/2 percent shall attach after 5 p.m. on the next business day. If the board of supervisors, by adoption of an ordinance or resolution, closes the county's offices for business prior to the time of delinquency on the "next business day" or for that whole day, that day shall be considered a legal holiday for purposes of this section.
  (b) For purposes of an administrative hearing or any claim in a bankruptcy proceeding pertaining to the property being redeemed, the assessment of penalties determined pursuant to subdivision (a) with respect to the redemption of that property constitutes the assessment of interest.

If the property is not on the current roll, the tax collector may do either of the following:
  (a) Require that the redemptioner pay the current taxes and penalties as if the property were originally on the current roll.
  (b) Require the redemptioner to pay the current taxes, penalties, and costs along with the amount necessary to redeem. The tax collector shall base his computation of the amount of these taxes on the valuation furnished him by the assessor. This section is not applicable if the property is not on the current roll because of having been acquired by the state or other public agency other than by tax deed.

After the settlement under Section 2630, the delinquent roll, or a photographic copy thereof, shall remain on file in the tax collector's office and the auditor shall charge the tax collector with the amount of taxes, penalties and costs unpaid as shown on the delinquent roll.

The tax collector shall be the redemption officer of the county. Application to redeem shall be made to the tax collector.

The tax collector shall prepare an estimate of the amount necessary to redeem.

When tax-defaulted property is redeemed and upon the request of the redemptioner, the tax collector shall issue a certificate of redemption. With the approval of the Controller as to form, each certificate of redemption shall show:
  (a) The year of default.
  (b) A description of the property.
  (c) The amounts to be paid.
  (d) The name of the person making the payment.
  (e) The date of redemption. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, where no physical document of the extended redemption certificate is prepared, all entries required to be made on the extended certificate shall be so stored that it can be made readily available to the public in an understandable form.

The certificates, with the money, shall be delivered to the tax collector and he or she shall receipt each certificate. One certificate shall be given to the person making payment and one shall remain in the tax collector's office. Upon request of the assessor or the auditor, an additional certificate shall be made.

With the approval of the board of supervisors the tax collector may establish a procedure for making and preserving a record of individual redemption and installment payments. When such a procedure is established, receipts for redemption and installment payments made by mail shall only be issued when a receipt is requested by the person making payment. The redemption certificate or installment plan form shall contain a statement that receipts will not be issued for payments made by mail unless a receipt is requested by the person making payment, and an appropriate place in which the taxpayer may request a receipt shall be provided on the redemption certificate and the installment plan form. Receipts requested shall be furnished without cost to the taxpayer.

Any redemption certificate may be destroyed by the county tax collector if (a) the destruction has been approved by order of the board of supervisors of the county, and (b) a certified, permanent record on a substitute media has been prepared in accordance with Section 26205 of the Government Code and the substitute media will be retained for at least 12 years from the date of creation of the original document. The substitute media may also be destroyed following the expiration of the 12-year retention period.

(a) Not less than once every 12 months and on dates approved by the auditor the tax collector shall account to the auditor for all moneys collected during the preceding month under this part. On the same day he or she shall file with the auditor a statement under oath showing that all money collected by him or her has been paid as required by law.
  (b) Not less than once every 12 months and on dates approved by the auditor, the tax collector shall file with the auditor a statement under oath within six months after the close of each month' s business showing an itemized account of all his or her transactions and receipts under this part including the amount collected for each fund or district extended on the roll for such month. The amounts charged to the tax collector shall be reduced accordingly.

(a) The records and accounts of the tax collector pursuant to this part shall be audited at least once each three years.
  (b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 1993, and shall remain inoperative until July 1, 1994, on which date this section shall become operative.

The tax collector shall note the fact and date of redemption on the margin of each delinquent roll opposite the description of the property. In the event that part of the property is redeemed, the tax collector shall also note:
  (a) A description of the parcel redeemed.
  (b) The value of the parcel redeemed.
  (c) The value of the remainder of the property.

If delinquent taxes are paid in installments, the tax collector may stamp or write "See Supplemental Record" on the margin of the delinquent roll, or abstract list. On a supplemental record set up by the tax collector for the purpose, he shall show the name of the person making the payments, a description of the property, the amount paid, the year or years of delinquency, and the number of the certificate of redemption, if any, issued.

The tax collector shall prepare and set up a convenient and appropriate index record, or other workable system of tax-defaulted property. The record shall be kept regularly posted to reflect the immediate status of all items remaining unpaid on the delinquent rolls or abstract lists.

(a) When tax-defaulted property subject to the notice recorded under Section 3691.4 is redeemed, the tax collector shall collect all of the following, in addition to the amount required to redeem:
  (1) A fee to reimburse the county for its actual and reasonable costs incurred in obtaining the names and last known mailing addresses of, and for mailing notices required by Sections 3701 and 3799 to, parties of interest as defined by Section 4675, which shall be distributed to the county general fund.
  (2) A fee in the amount required by Section 27361.3 of the Government Code that shall be distributed to the county recorder for the cost of recordation of a rescission of the notice, as required by subdivision (c).
  (3) A fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) if redemption is within 90 days of the proposed date for the tax sale of the redeemed property. In the case of unsold tax-defaulted properties remaining on the abstract after the tax sale, the fee shall become a part of the redemption amount and collectible whenever the property is redeemed. The fee shall be distributed to the county general fund to reimburse the county for costs incurred by the county in preparing to conduct that sale.
  (4) The amount described in subdivision (c) of Section 3704.7 to reimburse the county for the cost of a personal contact required by that section.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the tax-defaulted property is redeemed prior to the proposed sale, but after the county has incurred notice or publication costs pursuant to Section 3702 or 3798 in connection with a notice of intended sale, a fee in an amount reasonably necessary to reimburse the tax collector for those costs may be collected.
  (c) When tax-defaulted property subject to the notice recorded under Section 3691.4 is redeemed, the notice becomes null and void and the tax collector shall execute and record with the county recorder a rescission of the notice in the form prescribed by the Controller. The rescission shall be acknowledged by the county clerk, without charge.
  (d) The amount of any fee imposed under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or subdivision (b) shall be established by the board of supervisors of the county and shall be subject to the requirements of Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 54985) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code.

Whenever tax-defaulted property is redeemed, the redemptioner or any other person claiming through the redemptioner may bring suit to quiet title to all or any portion of the property and prosecute it to final judgment.

When it can be determined from an inspection of the tax records that the tax collector has erroneously computed the amount necessary to redeem a parcel of property as to which a redemption certificate has been issued, and such error has resulted in an underpayment of the amount required to redeem such property, the amount of redemption deficiency may be collected by the tax collector, if within four years after the date of the underpayment, the tax collector sends notice of or a bill for the underpayment by registered or certified mail to the assessee of the property for the year in which the underpayment was made, at his last known address. The notice shall show:
  (1) That the tax collector made an unintended error in computing the amount required to redeem the property.
  (2) That as a result of the error, the payment made to redeem such property was insufficient to pay the amount required to redeem as specified in Section 4102.
  (3) In detail, the balance due.
  (4) A statement that if payment of the amount due is not made within 30 days following the date of this notice, the amount due will be transferred to the secured roll prepared or being prepared and will be collected like other taxes on such roll.

If payment of the redemption deficiency is not made within 30 days following the mailing of the notice or bill required by Section 4114, the deficiency shall be transferred to the secured roll prepared or being prepared for the assessment year in which such notice or bill is mailed to the assessee, and shall thereafter be treated and collected like other taxes on such roll; provided, however, that if prior to the date of transfer to the secured roll, with the date of entry specified thereon, the real property on which such redemption deficiency constitutes a lien has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value or becomes subject to a bona fide encumbrance for value, such redemption deficiency shall not create, impose or constitute a lien on such real property but shall be transferred to the unsecured roll in the name of the assessee at the time the original insufficient payment was made and shall thereafter be treated and collected like other taxes on said roll. The entry on the roll shall be followed with "Deficiency in Redemption of Parcel Number ____ on __________, 19 _." The foregoing entry may be made on a document separate from the roll if reference is made on the roll to the document wherein the entry is made. The delinquent tax abstract from which the redemption deficiency is transferred may, at the option of the county, serve as the separate document.

Any redemption deficiency on account of which the notice or bill required by Section 4114 is not mailed within 4 years after the date of the original insufficient payment shall not be collectible and shall, on order of the board of supervisors and with the written consent of the county legal advisor, be cancelled.