AI-assisted research summary: The City of Prichard may start an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action for certain tax sale property, but it must first record notice and make good-faith efforts to identify interested parties.
(a) The City of Prichard may initiate an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action under this section against a parcel of tax sale property within its municipal limits which the municipality purchased from the state land commissioner. The municipality shall record a notice of its intention to file an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action in the office of the judge of probate. The notice shall include a legal description of the property, the property’s street address if available, a statement that the property is subject to expedited quiet title and foreclosure proceedings under this subpart, and a statement that the proceedings may extinguish any legal interests in the property. (b) The municipality shall make a good-faith effort to identify the interested parties and their addresses. The municipality shall be presumed to have made a good-faith effort to identify interested parties if it does all of the following: (1) Erects a sign measuring at least four feet by six feet on the property and maintains it for a minimum of 30 days. The sign must read as follows: “THIS PROPERTY WAS SOLD TO THE CITY OF PRICHARD FOR UNPAID TAXES. IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION ABOUT THE OWNER OF THIS PROPERTY, PLEASE CALL _____________.” (2) Examines the addresses appearing on the face of the recorded deeds, mortgages, and relevant instruments. (3) Examines the records of the tax assessor or revenue commissioner to identify the names and addresses of all parties who paid taxes during the five-year period preceding the date of the tax sale, provided that the municipality is not required to search for parties who paid taxes more than 20 years before the year of the inquiry. (4) If the interested party is an individual, the municipality shall examine voter registration lists, municipal archives for records of deaths, and probate court records of estates opened in the county where the property is located. (5) If the interested party is a business entity, the municipality shall search the records of the Secretary of State to find the name and address of a registered agent.