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HB502
DG53LNT-3
By Representative Bracy (N & P)
RFD: Mobile County Legislation
First Read: 24-Feb-26
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First Read: 24-Feb-26
Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to the City of Prichard in Mobile County; to
authorize the City of Prichard to file an expedited quiet
title and foreclosure action in circuit court to establish
clear title to abandoned tax sale properties within the city
limits that are acquired from the state land commissioner
under Chapter 10 of Title 40, Code of Alabama 1975; and to
provide for the procedure and due process for the action in
circuit court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall apply only to the City of
Prichard in Mobile County.
Section 2. For the purpose of this act, "interested
parties" means the owner, heirs of the owner, any mortgagee or
purchaser of the subject property or any part of the property,
and any party with a legal or equitable interest in the
property, or any part of the property, in severalty or as
tenant in common, including a judgment creditor or other
creditor having a lien on the property or any part of the
property. The term does not include holders of recorded or
unrecorded easements or rights-of-way for utility services
affecting the subject property.
Section 3. (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
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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 in
the county where the property is located. 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 act, 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
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(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.
Section 4. The municipality may file a single petition
with the clerk of the circuit court for the judicial circuit
in which the subject property is located, seeking an order to
quiet title and expedite foreclosure of one or more parcels of
property under this act. The petition shall identify each
parcel by its tax parcel number and street address and shall
be served on all interested parties identified in accordance
with Section 3.
Section 5. Upon filing of the circuit court petition
under Section 4, the circuit court shall set the date, time,
and place for a hearing on the petition. A hearing on the
petition shall be no later than 90 days from the scheduling
order. On the request of a party, the court may extend the
90-day period for good cause shown.
Section 6. (a) No less than 30 days before the
scheduled date of the hearing on the quiet title and
foreclosure petition, the municipality shall do both of the
following:
(1) Send a notice of the hearing to the interested
parties identified under Section 3 for each parcel named in
the petition by both certified mail, return receipt requested,
and regular mail.
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and regular mail.
(2) Post conspicuously on each property named in the
petition notice of the hearing including the following
statement: "THIS PROPERTY HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO THE CITY OF
PRICHARD AND IS SUBJECT TO AN EXPEDITED QUIET TITLE AND
FORECLOSURE ACTION. PERSONS WITH INFORMATION REGARDING THE
PRIOR OWNER OF THE PROPERTY ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT THE CITY
OF PRICHARD."
(b) Notices provided to the interested parties under
this section shall include all of the following:
(1) The date the municipality recorded its notice of
the pending expedited quiet title and foreclosure action under
Section 3 in probate court.
(2) A legal description, tax parcel identification
number, and the street address of the property, if available.
(3) The interested party or parties to whom the notice
is addressed.
(4) The date, time, and place of the hearing on the
petition for expedited quiet title and foreclosure, and a
statement that the court's judgment may result in the
property's title vesting in the municipality.
(5) Notice that the court's judgment in the quiet title
and foreclosure hearing may extinguish any ownership interest
in, liens against, right to redeem, or any claim whatsoever
secured by the property.
(6) The name, address, and telephone number of the
municipality.
(7) A statement requesting that persons with
information regarding the owner or prior owner of any of the
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information regarding the owner or prior owner of any of the
properties contact the municipality.
(8) That any party seeking to redeem the property will
be required to pay all taxes, interest, penalties, fees, and
any other charges due and owing under Chapter 10 of Title 40,
Code of Alabama 1975.
Section 7. If the municipality is unable to identify
the names and addresses of interested parties or to provide
notice under Section 6, it shall apply to the circuit court
for an order authorizing notice by publication. If so ordered,
the municipality shall publish a notice once each week for
three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation
in the county where the property is located. If no newspaper
is published in that county, publication shall be made in a
newspaper of general circulation in an adjoining county. This
publication shall substitute for notice under Section 6. The
published notice shall include the information listed in 6(b).
If the municipality discovers the name and address of an
interested party after publication, it shall notify that party
of the expedited quiet title and foreclosure action in
accordance with Section 6 as soon as practicable. In that
case, notice shall be brought to the attention of the court,
which shall postpone the hearing for a period of time
sufficient to give such notice to the newly discovered party.
Section 8. Before the circuit court hearing on the
expedited quiet title and foreclosure action, the municipality
shall file with the clerk of the circuit court proof of notice
to the interested parties by certified and regular mail, proof
of posting on the property under Section 6, and, if
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of posting on the property under Section 6, and, if
applicable, proof of notice by publication under Section 7. An
interested party who seeks to contest the petition shall file
written objections with the clerk of the circuit court and
serve those objections on the municipality no later than 14
days before the hearing date. If the court denies the
petition, the denial shall not preclude the municipality from
filing another petition for expedited quiet title and
foreclosure on that parcel. No injunction shall issue to stay
an expedited quiet title and foreclosure action under this
section.
Section 9. (a) If an interested party appears at the
hearing and asserts a right to redeem the property, the party
may redeem the property in accordance with Chapter 10 of Title
40, Code of Alabama 1975.
(b) If an interested party appears and fails to redeem,
or if no person appears, the circuit court shall enter
judgment on the petition no later than 10 days after the date
the matter was heard.
(c) The judgment of the circuit court shall specify all
of the following:
(1) The legal description, tax parcel identification
number, and, if known, the street address of the property
foreclosed.
(2) That fee simple title to the property foreclosed by
the judgment is vested absolutely in the municipality, except
as otherwise provided in subdivision (5), without any further
rights of redemption.
(3) That all liens against the property, including any
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(3) That all liens against the property, including any
lien for unpaid taxes or special assessments, are
extinguished.
(4) That the municipality has good and marketable fee
simple title to the property.
(5) That all existing recorded and unrecorded interests
in the property are extinguished, except for recorded or
unrecorded easements or rights-of-way for utility services,
other recorded easements or rights-of-way, private deed
restrictions, plat restrictions, or restrictions or covenants
imposed under the Alabama Land Recycling and Economic
Redevelopment Act or any other environmental law in effect in
the state.
(6) That the municipality provided notice to all
interested parties or that the municipality complied with the
notice procedures in Section 6. Compliance with the notice
procedures in Section 6 shall create a rebuttable presumption
that all interested parties received notice and an opportunity
to be heard.
Section 10. No later than 42 days after the judgment's
effective date, a municipality or interested party may appeal
the circuit court's judgment to the Court of Civil Appeals.
Any party appealing from an order vesting title in the
municipality shall, as a condition of the appeal, identify the
parcel that is the subject of the appeal and, with respect to
that parcel, post a bond with at least one solvent surety in
the amount due to redeem the property under Chapter 10 of
Title 40, Code of Alabama 1975. The appeal shall stay the
circuit court's order only with respect to each parcel
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circuit court's order only with respect to each parcel
identified as the subject of the appeal. The circuit court's
order shall be affirmed unless there is a defect in the
identification of the property or in the notice that deprived
a party of the right to due process of law. The order shall
not be reversed on the basis of mere technical noncompliance
with this section.
Section 11. The municipality shall record the court's
order in the probate court after the 42-day period following
the entry of the order, if no appeal is filed, or after a
final judgment on appeal of the circuit court's decision on
the municipality's petition for an expedited quiet title and
foreclosure action.
Section 12. This act shall become effective on June 1,
2026.
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2026.
________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 31-Mar-26, as amended.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 02-Apr-26 Passed
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