Indiana Modifies Tax Sale Notice Requirements and High Cost Home Loan Limits

Indiana recently amended certain provisions of its state statutes and regulations relating to the state’s real property tax sale notice requirements and dollar amount threshold for high cost loans.  These changes are effective July 1, 2018.

Indiana House Bill 1320 amends certain provisions of Indiana’s real property tax sales statute that require tax sale purchasers to provide notice to any person with a substantial property interest of public record in the property that is to be sold.  Specifically, the state amends the definition of “substantial property interest of public record” as used in the notice provisions of the tax sales statute to generally mean title to or interest in a tract that is within the tract’s chain of record that is possessed by a person and either recorded or properly indexed and available for public inspection in the county where the tract is located, not later than the hour and date of the scheduled sale.  For the purposes of the definition of “substantial property interest of public record,” the term “chain of record title” includes instruments executed by the owner and recorded within the five (5) day period before the date the owner acquires title to the tract.

Currently, Indiana statutory law defines “substantial property interest of public record” as title to or interest in a tract possessed by a person and recorded in the office of a county recorder or available for public inspection in the office of a circuit court clerk no later than the hour and date the sale is scheduled to commence.  House Bill 1320 replaces the current definition of “substantial property interest of public record” in existing Indiana Code Section 6-1.1-24-1.9 (to be repealed pursuant to another recently enacted bill) with the amended definition in the new Section 6-1.1-23.9-3.  The revised definition of “substantial property interest of public record” may affect the scope of research that a tax sale purchaser must do in order to send notice of the sale to any person with a substantial, publicly recorded interest in a property.

House Bill 1320 also made amendments to provisions regarding the total amount required to redeem property that has been sold at a tax sale and the specific language that must be included in a conveyance.

In addition, the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions adjusted its dollar amount threshold for high cost home loans regulated under the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC).  Pursuant to an emergency rule, the high cost home loan threshold will rise from $44,000 to $48,000.  The emergency rule also slightly increased the dollar amounts for Indiana UCCC provisions relating to the minimum credit service charge, delinquency charge (sales), security interest (sales or leases), minimum loan finance charge, delinquency charge (loans), minimum loan finance charge, maximum loan term, and property insurance.

Indiana House Bill 1320 is available here.

The Indiana Department of Financial Institutions’ emergency rule (LSA Document #18-155(E)) is available here.