Unpaid assessments are delinquent unless paid within six calendar months after they become due.
AssessmentsDelinquency and Sale
Section § 36950
If you owe an assessment and don't pay it within six months from when it's due, it will be considered overdue or late.
unpaid assessments delinquent six calendar months
Section § 36950.1
This section defines the term "assessment" within certain chapters as including standby charges and other fees charged for using district water.
As used in this chapter and Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 37050), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 37150), and Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 37175), “assessment” includes standby charges and other charges levied for the use of district water.
assessment definition standby charges district water fees
Section § 36950.5
This law allows the board to offer a payment plan for assessments, where people can pay in two parts. The first part is considered late if not paid within five months, and the second part is late if not paid within nine months. You can pay the whole amount before the first part is due. If the total amount isn't split evenly, the extra amount goes to the first payment.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 36950, the board may, by resolution, provide that assessments may be paid in two equal installments, the first of which shall be delinquent if not paid within five calendar months after the assessments became due and the second of which shall be delinquent if not paid within nine calendar months after the assessments became due. Notwithstanding such provision, the entire assessment on any parcel may be paid before delinquency of the first installment. If any assessment is not evenly divisible by two, the odd cent shall be shown as a part of and included in the first installment.
assessment payments payment installments delinquent payments
Section § 36951
When property assessments or their installments become overdue, the tax collector must quickly publish a notice covering specific details. This notice includes a description of the property, the owner's name, and the amounts due, including any penalties for late payment. If these overdue amounts aren’t paid by a certain date, the property will be sold to the district due to nonpayment.
The notice should also state that the property can be redeemed after sale by paying specified amounts or through an installment redemption plan, if applicable. It must provide contact information of the official handling redemption matters, and mention that after three years from the property's sale to the district, the right to reclaim it may be lost permanently through a legal deed process.
As soon as possible after the assessments, or any installment thereof, become delinquent, the tax collector shall publish a notice containing all of the following:
(a)CA Water Code § 36951(a) A description of the delinquent property.
(b)CA Water Code § 36951(b) The name of the assessee.
(c)CA Water Code § 36951(c) The amount of the assessments and penalties due on the property.
(d)CA Water Code § 36951(d) The amount of the assessments and penalties delinquent on the
property.
(e)CA Water Code § 36951(e) A statement that unless the delinquent assessments and penalties are paid at the district office by 12 noon on the date stated in the notice, the delinquent property will, on that date, be sold to the district for nonpayment of the delinquent assessments and penalties.
(f)CA Water Code § 36951(f) A statement that subsequent to the sale of the delinquent property to the district, the property may be redeemed by payment of the amount specified in Section 37150 and, if applicable, Section 37155.2 or, if the district has elected pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 37175) to permit installment redemption pursuant to that chapter, that the delinquent property may be redeemed under an installment plan of redemption.
(g)CA Water Code § 36951(g) A statement of the name, address, and telephone number of the official who will furnish all information
concerning redemption.
(h)CA Water Code § 36951(h) A statement that after three years from the date of sale of the delinquent property to the district the right of redemption may be terminated upon execution and delivery to the district of a collector’s deed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 37150).
delinquent property tax collector notice assessee
Section § 36952
This section of the law describes the timing and method for publishing a notice about a property. It requires that the notice be published in the county where the property is located, following the specific rules outlined in another part of the government code. The publication needs to happen no less than 21 days and no more than 28 days before the date mentioned in a related notice.
The notice required by Section 36951 shall be published in the county in which the property is located in the manner prescribed in Section 6063 of the Government Code, commencing not less than 21 days nor more than 28 days prior to the date required to be stated in the notice by subdivision (e) of Section 36951.
property notice publication requirements county notice
Section § 36953
If there's a mistake in the published notice about a delinquent property's description, owner, or the amount owed that could affect the property's sale, and the mistake is found before the sale happens, the collector must quickly republish the notice. This new notice must meet specific requirements related to how notices should be published.
If there's an error in the notice regarding when or where it was published, and this is noticed before the sale, the collector must republish it again correctly. The new notice must set a new sale date that falls within 21 to 28 days from the date the corrected notice is first republished.
If any error should occur in the published notice with respect to the description of any delinquent property, the name of the assessee thereof, or the amount of the assessments and penalty due thereon which might invalidate a sale thereof and such error is discovered prior to sale, the collector shall at once republish a notice as to the property affected by the error, making such notice conform to the requirements of Sections 36951 and 36952. If any error should occur in the publication of the notice with respect to the time or place of publication or the requirements of Section 36952, and such error is discovered prior to sale, the collector shall at once republish the
notice in conformity with all the requirements of Sections 36951 and 36952, specifying a date for the sale not less than 21 nor more than 28 days from the date of the first republication.
delinquent property notice error property sale
Section § 36954
On the date specified for the sale in the published notice (or any updated notice), if assessments and penalties on a property are still unpaid, the collector must sell the entire amount owed for each separately assessed property to the district.
On the day fixed for the sale in the published notice, or in any republished notice, the collector shall sell to the district the whole amount of each parcel of property separately assessed upon which the assessments and penalties due on the property remain unpaid for the amount of such assessment and penalty thereon.
property assessment unpaid penalties public notice
Section § 36955
This law requires that when a parcel of land is sold, the collector must note that it was 'Sold to the district' in the official record book along with the date of the sale.
Thereupon the collector shall, as to each parcel sold, make an entry “Sold to the district” in the assessment book, and the date of the sale.
parcel sale collector duties entry in assessment book
Section § 36956
After a property is sold due to unpaid assessments, the collector must create and sign two certificates of sale for each separately assessed and sold parcel. These certificates need to include: a description and sale date of the property, the name of the person assessed, the total amount of assessment and penalties, and the date when the buyer can get a deed for the property.
After the delinquent sale the collector shall make out, in duplicate, and sign a certificate of sale for each parcel separately assessed and sold, setting forth all of the following:
(a)CA Water Code § 36956(a) A description of the property sold and the date of the sale.
(b)CA Water Code § 36956(b) The name of the assessee.
(c)CA Water Code § 36956(c) That the property was sold for the amount of the assessment and penalty thereon, giving the amount and year of the assessment.
(d)CA Water Code § 36956(d) The date
on which the purchaser will be entitled to a deed.
delinquent sale certificate of sale property description
Section § 36957
This section outlines the form for a Certificate of Sale used by a water district when it sells a property due to unpaid assessments. It includes details such as the collector's name, the purchaser, the sale amount, property description, and the reason for sale, which is usually due to a delinquent assessment.
The document certifies that proper notice was given before the sale, and it allows the purchaser to receive a deed to the property after three years unless the original owner redeems it during that time.
The certificate of sale may be substantially in the following form, the blanks being filled to show the facts in each case:
Certificate of Sale No. ______
___________ Water District
I, the collector of ______________ Water District, certify that on the ____ day of ________, 19__, after
giving the required notice, I sold to ______ Water District, the purchaser, for the sum of ______ dollars ($____) real property in the County of ______, State of California, described as follows:
(insert description)
This land was assessed to _______________. This property was sold for a delinquent assessment levied on it in the year _________ by the district, and the sale price was the sum due and unpaid on the assessment and penalty thereon. The purchaser will be entitled to a deed to the property at any time after three years from the date of sale, unless in the meantime the property is redeemed.
WITNESS MY HAND and the seal of the district this ______ day
of ________, 19__.
(District Seal)
_____
Collector of ______ Water District
certificate of sale water district property sale
Section § 36958
When a property is sold, two certificates of sale are created. One stays with the collector, and the other is recorded at the county recorder's office where the property's located.
Of each of the duplicate certificates of sale one shall be retained by the collector and the other shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property is situated.
duplicate certificates of sale property sale collector
Section § 36959
This law states that when property is sold for taxes or assessments, the proceeds must be managed and distributed according to specific rules. These rules are outlined in a different part of the Government Code if they aren't already covered by general tax sale procedures.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this part to the contrary, in the case of a sale of property for taxes or assessments, except where the sale is conducted and the funds are accounted for as provided in Division 1 (commencing with Section 101) of the Revenue and Taxation Code, all proceeds shall be accounted for and distributed as provided in Article 12 (commencing with Section 53925) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
property sale tax sale proceeds assessments
Section § 36960
This law states that if property is sold due to assessments placed on it, any mistakes in naming the owner or identifying the supposed owner do not affect the validity of the sale. In other words, the sale remains legally binding despite errors in ownership information.
When property is sold for assessments imposed on it as the property of a particular person, no misnomer of the owner, or supposed owner, or any other mistake relating to the ownership, affects the sale or renders it void or voidable.
property sale assessments misnomer
