CLERK, BOARD OF SlJPERVISORS

Transcription

1 I"... Agenda June 28,201) CLERK, BOARD OF SlJPERVISORS June 16,2011 Honorable Board of Supervisors County of Alameda 1221 Oak Street Oakland CA Dear Board Members: SUBJECT: Claim for Excess Proceeds Tax Defaulted Property Sales RECOMMENDATIONS: Pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code, it is recommended that your Board approve the Hearing Officer's decision regarding Excess Proceeds claim from tax defaulted property sales of 2008, included in Attachment A; and direct the Auditor-Controller to distribute excess proceeds detailed in Attachment B pursuant to the Hearing Officer's decision. Claimant Parcel No. 1. Maka Lauti and Tautalamusa Lauti ~ 13-3 DISCUSSION/SUMMARY On March 21, 2004, the Tax Collector conducted sales of tax defaulted properties. Any excess in the proceeds of these sales, over and above the amounts collected to satisfy the tax delinquencies, were deposited by the Tax Collector in a delinquent tax sale trust fund. The excess proceeds were subject to claims made by parties of interest in accordance v lith applicable provisions of the California Revenue and Taxation Code. All claimants were given the opportunity for a hearing before the Assessment Hearing Officer to establish the priority and extent of their claims. The Assessment Hearing Officer has rendered his written decisions on these claims and they are now being submitted to your Board for approval and ratification. Your approval of the decisions presented in Attachment B wjjj result in the Auditor-Controller distributing the excess proceeds.

2 FINANCING: There is no impact on the General Fund. Excess proceeds claims are paid from funds held in trust. Sincerely, CRG P:\LcgalHO\bdltr_ Attachments cc: County Administrator County Counsel Auditor-Controller Tax Collector Claimants c~~~ Clerk, Board of Supervisors SUSAN S. MURANISHI, County Administrator CRYSTAL HISHIDA GRAFF, Clerk of the Board 1221 Oak Street. Room 536, Oakland, California (510) , Fax: (510)

3 .. ATTACHMENT A DECISION OF ASSESSMENT HEARING OFFICER COUNTY OF ALAMEDA APPLICANT: MAKA LAUTI AND TAUTALAMUSU LAUTI, by PAUL M. KOENIG, Esq. 'PARCEL: FILE NO: 3/15/08 EXCESS PROCEEDS HEARING DATE: APRIL 21, 2011 AGENDA NUMBER: NINETEEN HEARING OFFICER: JED SOMIT, Esq. FACTS: Applicants filed a Claim for Excess Proceeds from the March 15, 2008 tax auction for this tax defaulted property. The Claim states that applicants were the owners of the property They claim 100% of the excess proceeds. No proof of ownership was provided with the Claim, beyo.nd the declaration under penalty of perjury that the Claim is correct. No other claims to the excess proceeds were filed. Claude F. Kolm and Farand C. Kan, Deputy County Counsels, analyzed the situation for the County in a memorandum dated February 7, The Memorandum identifies the excess proceeds as $43,724.89, and agrees that no other claim was submitted. Applicants' claim appears to be timely. The Memorandum notes the lack of a recorded deed establishing applicants' title, but otherwise does not object, and recommends granting the claim if the showing of having record title is met. HEARING OFFICER DECISION Page 1

4 The Memorandum also notes that Attorney Koenig is acting on behalf of the applicants without compliance with Revenue & Taxation Code Section 4675c) and cautions that payment should not be provided to him without proof of compliance. Mr. Koenig, Esq., appeared at the hearing on April 21, 2011, on behalf of both of the applicants, who were also present. At the hearing, Mr. Koenig submitted a c;ertified copy of an Individual Grant Deed, recorded May 29, 1998, granting the parcel to Maka Lauti and Tautalamusa Lauti, as joint tenants. Applicants testified that they owned the property ever since, until the tax sale. Mr, Koenig also submitted a certified copy of a Tax Deed granting the property to third parties, recorded April 29, 2008, which notes the last assessee was Lauti Maki. Mr. Koenig also submitted a Statement of Representation and of Advice of Interest, signed by applicants, attesting that he is only representing claimants, not acting under an assignment, and that applicants were notified of their right to make the claim for excess proceeds themselves, and of the amount of the proceeds at issue. The matter was submitted..., DECISION: The Claim for Excess Proceeds is granted. All of the excess proceeds shall be distributed to Maka Lauti and Tautalamusa Lauti. HEARING OFFICER DECISION Page 2

5 RATIONALE: Revenue & Taxation Code 4674 directs the application of excess proceeds from the sale of tax defaulted property as provided by section 4675; if not claimed within one year, the remaining amount shall be distributed as provided in section (b), after deduction of administrative costs. Revenue & Taxation Code 4675(a) provides that any party of interest in the property may file with the county a claim for the excess proceeds, in proportion to his or her interest held with others of equal priority in the property at the time of sale, at any time prior to the expiration of one year following the recordation of the tax coli ector's deed to the purchaser. Section 4675{b) continues: "After the property has been sold, a party of interest in the property at the time of the sale may assign his or her right to claim the excess proceeds only by a dated, written instrument that explicitly states that the right to claim the excess proceeds is being assigned, and only after each party, to the proposed assignment has disclosed to each other party to the proposed assignment all facts of which he or she is aware relating to the value of the right that is being assigned. Any attempted assignment that does not comply with these requirements shall have no effect... If Here, the Statement signed by applicants shows that no assignment was made. Section 4675{c) adds further requirements for assignment: "Any person or entity who in any way acts on behalf of, or in place of, any party of interest with HEARING OFFICER DECISION Page 3

6 respect to filing a claim for any excess proceeds shall submit proof with the claim that the amount of excess proceeds has been disclosed to the party of interest and that the party of interest Mas been advised of his or her right to file a claim for the excess proceeds on his or her own behalf." The Statement submitted at the hearing adequately satisfies this requirement. Section 4675(e) defines the parties of interest who may make a claim: "For the purposes of this article, parties of interest and their order of priority are: (1) First, lienholders of record prior to the recordation of the tax deed to the purchaser in the 0 rder of their priority. (2) Second, any person with title of record to aii or any portion of the property prior to the recordation of the tax deed to the purchaser." Applicants claim in the second priority, as owners. There are no claims either of the first priority, or conflicting claims to ownership. Applicants sufficiently prove that they had title of record. Therefore, they are entitled jointly to all of the excess proceeds. Dated: May 16, 2011 Jed Somit, Esq. Hearing Officer HEARING OFFICER DECISION Page 4

7 ,. Honorable Board of Supervisors June 28, 201 I ATTACHMENT B Excess Proceeds Distribution From Tax Defaulted Propertv Sales Claimant 1. Maka Lauti and Tautalamusu Lauti c/o Paul M. Koenig, Esq 1450 Maria Lane, Suite 400 Walnut Creek, CA Parcel Number Sale Date Amount Suspend Payment 90 Days /15108 $43, N/A SUSAN S. MURANISHJ, County Administrator CRYSTAL HISHJDA GRAFF, Clerk of the Board 1221 Oak Street, Room 536, Oakland., California, 94612, (510) , Fax: (510)