chapter 75docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/1983/75.pdf · person may, prior to the...

2085 TAX SALES 75.01

LAND SOLD FOR TAXES

75.01 Redemptionn from tax sale .. .(1) Anyperson may, prior to the recording of a tax deedbased on a tax sale certificate issued on the saleof 'a parcel of land or of' .any interest in it fornonpayment of taxes, redeem any land de-scribed in the tax sale certificate or any interestin it, whether the tax sale certificate is a lienagainst all the land' or against an undividedinterest in it . This redemption shall be made bypaying to the treasurer of the county or cityselling the land the amount of the taxes forwhich the land or interest was sold or theamount redeemed plus the interest and penaltyon the taxes as provided under s . '74 ..80 from theJanuary 1 after the tax levy year plus all othercharges authorized by law to be imposed on thetax` certificate after the sale . If there is aredemption before `the recording of a tax deed,the tax deed shalll be void When an applicationis made to a county or cityy treasurer to redeemfrom any tax sale any divided portion of anypart, Or portion of'any lot or parcel of land thatwas sold for taxes, the treasurer before makinga receipt for the redemption applied for shall

give notice of the proposed redemption to anyperson other than the applicant having arecorded ownership , mortgage , or land contractinterest in the land and to any purchaser of ' a taxcertificate that describes the land as shown bythe treasurer ' s records or that may be affectedby the application and afford him or her ahearing . This notice shall be given in themanner provided in s . 75 .12 for the giving ofnotice of application for a tax deed , and thecosts of giving this notice shall be paid by theperson making the application . Thee time forsuch hearing shall be fixed at not less than 10dayss after the se rvice of the notice .. The countyor city treasurer shall then determine the trueproportion of taxes chargeable to the part orportion soughtt to be redeemed, and thatamount shall be required for the redemption .The provisions of this chapter relating to re-demption , conveyance , rights of action, limita-tion and other proceedings shall apply to allswamp and overflowed lands that have been ormay be contracted for sale by any county board .As used in this subsection, "recording " means

CHAPTER 75

7501 Redemption from tax sale75 0 3: Redeemi ng land s ofmin o r s, inc ompetents .7504 Redemp tio n recei pt and entr ie s..75 05 D ispos iti o n of redemption mon e y .7506 Pa yment o n l os t cert i fic ates7507 Red emptio n no tices; publ ica tio n ,75 09 Notice , how pos ted75 . 1 0 Mistake in notice . .75 11 Compensation, of printe r75 12 Deed , n o tice of applica tio n f o r .75 13 Filing affidavit .75 14 Deeds, execution of; r ights under; evid ence .7 5 .143 Defer taking of tax deed.75 145 Correction of descri ptio n by action .75 15 Dee d o n lost ce rtificate .75 ]6 Dee d , by wh om executed ; form .75 17 Ex ecution o £ tax deeds b y city.7 5 l 8 New deed s i n pl ace of' vo id ones .7 5 19 Fore cl os ure of certificates,75 195 Extended tim e fo r be gi nning tax for e cl osure,75 . 20 Limitat io ns on cert ifica tes and i ss ue o f deeds ; l i fe

of tax certificate lie n s .75 .21 Lim i t ati on on s pecia l c erti fic at es .75 22 Tax s al es ; vo id ; refund; immaterial errors75 23 Cancele d deeds, ce rtificates of c o unty clerk .7 5.24 ' Limi t a tion , cl a im s under ille gal deed or certificate .75 25 Lien of re as sessed tax7526 Limitation7527 Limi ta tio n o n former o wner ..7 5 28 - Appl ic ation ofall ] imitation s.7 5 : 285 fiction ; cond i tion preced e nt.75 .29 Actions o f ejectm ent, wh en barred .75 30 Action by or igin a l o wner whe re deed v oid , when

bar red'.7 5 . 31 " Pos sessi on " de f i ned.75 32 Taxation and sale o f land s h e ld by co untie s..

75 . :34 Sale of certi ficates by counties75 35 Sa le o f tax certif icates and tax de e ded lands ;

purchas e o f adja cent lands .7536 Tax deed s to c o unt y.7 5 365 Agr eeme nt s as to d el i nquent t axe s .75 37 Waste on land sold ; distress ; claim ag ain st county

or city .75 375 Waste on lands so ld fo r t axes, penalty ..75 3 8 Fees fo r deeds and certi fica tes. .7539 Action to bar f or mer owne r7 5 .40 Action , where and h o w brou g ht . .7541 Complaint75 .42 Defen se, a n swer.75 .43 Election to receive depos it; cos ts7544 Release'75 ..45 Deed as evidence75 .46 Trial ; defendant's inter es t . :7547 Sep ara te trials7548 Effect of judgment7549 Jud gment for defe ndant .75 50 Unknown owne rs..'7 5.. 52 Judgment a b ar, when ..'15 . 521 Foreclosure of t ax liens by act ion in rem .75 54 Reassessment of taxes b y order of court ..75 55 Application of section 7 5 . 54 . .7561 Tax sa les75 . 62 .. Tax s ales ; ac t i on s to set aside' 75 . . 6.3 Ejectment as to public lands; conditi ons..7564 No jurisdiction ; issue of d eed p os tponed; dep osit ..75 67 Tax sal es, ce rtificates and deeds in Milwaukee city

and county . .75,6 8 Con s ideration in sa le of land for nonpayme nt of

taxe s7 5.69 Sale of tax delinquent real est a te7570 Delinquent tax l and s and ta xes

Electronically scanned images of the published statutes.

such acquisition , but no such redemption shallbe construed as redeeming the interest of anyother person in such lands . And the lands ofpersons adjudged mentally incompetent so soldor any interest they may have in the same whichthey acquired prior to such sale and which werenot sold for nonpayment of' taxes for 5 or moreconsecutive years prior to or after such acquisi-tion , may. be redeemed at any time duringdisability and during one year thereafter , andsuch redemption shall, in all the cases men-tioned in this section , be made in the mannerprovided in s . 75 .. 01 . The heirss of any suchminor who dies after the minor's title to thelands shall accrue and before the expiration ofthe time when, if the minor had lived , the minormight have redeemed the lands , may also, ifminors, redeem the interest of the minor in thelands within the time in which the minor could,if ' living , have redeemed the same ; and if notminors they may redeem within one year fromthe time their title so accrues and within the timein which the minor could, if' living , have re-deemed the same :

(2) The redemption of lands or any interest inthe lands of minors or persons adjudged men-tally incompetent, which they acquired prior orsubsequent to the date of sale of the lands andwhich lands were sold for nonpayment of taxesfor 5 or more consecutive years , prior to or aftersuch acquisition , shall be made in the m annerprovided ins 75 . 01 .

(3) When the purchaser of such lands at taxsale or the owner of tax certif icates of such landsis the owner and holder of delinquent tax certifi-cates issued upon tax sales for 5 or more years ,and the time for issuance of a deed upon any ofsuch certificates hass not expired , the owner andholder of such certificates may foreclose byaction under s 75 :.. 19 or a tax deed may beissued to the owner- as provided by this chapterand the owner may foreclose any right of re-demption or interest of any minor or personadjudged mentally incompetent by separate ac-tion under s.. 75 . . 19 , which the owner' may alsodo if the tax deed was issued prior to theeffective date of this amendment. . In suchaction the minor or person ad judged mentallyincompetent must appear by guardian ad litemas provided by law, and the guardian , if ' theperson has one, shall be joined _ as a partydefendant . This subsection as amended in 1945is retroactive January 1 , 1946 The postpone-ment of the effective date of the retroactiveprovision is to afford an opportunity to allpersons having an interest in lands affected toredeem such lands from the lien of tax certifi-cates prior to such effective date .

History : 1977 c 83

the presentation of the tax deed to the register ofdeeds for record and acceptance of i t

(3) Nothing herein contained shall be con-strued to entitle any holder of 'a tax certificateagainst any land in Wi sconsin to pay subse-quent taxes on such land before the date of saleof such lands for any such tax ; and in event suchtax certificate holder shall pay such subsequenttaxes he shall not be entitled to ch arge orrecover any sum as the principal of or intereston any amount paid as taxes on any landsbefore such l ands have been sold for such taxes ..Provided that when a county owns and holds atax certificate on any land , the county treasurermay attach to such certificate subsequent delin-quent taxes without public ationn and sale asotherwise provided by law .

(4) Redemption of land sold for taxes may bemade in partial payments of not lesss than $20and in any multiple of $5 Each partial paymentshall be applied first to pay all charges autho-rized by law , then to pay the interest andpenalty accrued and then to pay the principal ofthe tax . The portion of the payment to beapplied as principal shall be asce rtained bydividing the amount of the payment by the sumof one plus a figure that is the product of either01 or a decimal reflecting the applicable per-centage under s . 74 80, multiplied by thenumber of months of delinquency , countingany part of a month as a full month . Thisamount of principal shall be deducted from theamount offered in payment and the remainderof it shall be the interest accrued from theJanuary l of the year after the tax levy on thatportion of the tax that is offered to be . paid..Interest on any new `balance of principal sumshall be figured from the . January 1 of the yearafter the tax levy No payment of any instal-ment may be made by the county treasurer tothe holder of any certificate unless the certifi-cate i s produced and the instalment paymentendorsed on it ,

,History :-` 1 977 c. 26 ; 1981 c 167Cross Reference : Asto redemption period, see 74. . 46 .An ownerr is entitled to redeem part of a parcel of land sold

for taxes before the tax deed is recorded by filing with thecounty treasurer an application for proration of taxes con-taining a legal description of the portion sought to be re-deemed 5&Atty. Gen 39'An interested person may redeem land sold for the non-

payment of taxes up until the time a tax deed conveying thesame is recorded 74 . 46 and 75 14 (1) discussed . 63 ArtyGen:, 592 .

75.03 Redeeming lands of minors, incompe-tents . (1) The lands of minors or any interestthey may have acquired in lands prior to or afterthe sale of said lands sold for taxes may beredeemed at any time before such minors comeof age and during one year thereafter if suchlands were not sold for nonpayment of taxes for5 or more consecutive years prior to or after

75 .01 TAX SALES 2086


veyed to the purchaser. The county treasurer,for the purpose of such list , may condense suchdescriptions when such condensed descriptionwill reasonably describe the premises . .

(2) Before publishing such list such treasurershall ca refully compare the same with his recordof lands on which the taxes have been returnedas delinquent and with such treasurer' s list ofthe same lands in his book of sales , and if uponsuch examination there be found any omissionor erroneous description in said list , such parcelof land in the description of which the omissionor error shall occur shall not be advertised forredemption, but he shall cancel the certificate ofsale of said parcel and shall readvertise and sellthe same at the next ensuing sale of land forunpaid . taxes ; provided, however, that if thenumber of the description in the lists of lands tobe advertised for redemption by the countytreasurer shall exceed 3 , 000, he shall then let bycontract the publication of such list to thelowest bidder upon a notice , written or printed,to be delivered to and left with the publisher orone of ' the publishers of each newspaper printedas aforesaid , at least 10 days prior to the time atwhich such contract shall be let ; and any countytreasurer who shall wilfully refuse or neglect toperform any duty required by this section orwho shall keep back and not report any unre-deemed lands for the purpose of evading itsprovisions shall forfeit the full amount of thepenalty of his official bond , one half of which,when collected, shall be paid to the personprosecuting therefor and the residue into thetreasury of the county for the use of the schoolfund; provided further , that no county treasurershall be liable to any penalty for causing suchpublication to be made in a weekly newspaperpublished in such county for the length of timehereinbefore named prior to the date of hisnotice, when by reason of accident or othercause more than one week has intervened be-tween the datess of the actual issue of suchnewspaper to subscribers, if such dela y at anyone time shall not have exceeded 3 days ; butevery such newspaper,, for the purpose of thissection shall be deemed to have been regularlypublished once in each week as hereinbeforeprovided .

Cross Reference: As to redemption period, see 74 . . 46 . .Sub' (I) requiring publication of redemption notice prior

to expiration of time to redeem lands sold for taxes, is direc-toryonly; and failure to include in such publication the nameof the person to whom such taxes were assessed does not in-validate a subsequent tax deed 63 Atty . . Gen. ] 16

In publishing redemption notices for tax delinquent landsunder (1), county treasurer is not authorized to omit thenames of persons to whom such property was last assessed .63 Atty. . Gen 118 .

75.09 Notice, how posted. If no newspaper bepublished in such county the county treasurer

75.04 Redemption receipt and entries. Uponthe redemption of any lands sold for taxes bypayment to the county treasurer, such treasurershall execute to the person so redeeming areceipt specifying therein the name of the pur-chaser, the land redeemed and the amount ofthe redemption money paid on each parcelseparately; and such treasurer shall also enteron the sale list kept by him the name of theperson redeeming, the sum paid therefor, andthe time when paid ; but the county treasurershall not be required to include in the samereceipt of redemption lands sold in differentyears .

75.. 05 Disposition of redemption money. Alltax certificate redemption money shall, after theexpiration of six years from the date of suchredemption of the property, become a part ofthe general fund and be disbursed as othermoneys belonging thereto. The legal holder ofany taxx sale certificate which has been redeemedmay thereafter present the same to the countytreasurer who shall pay to such person theamount paid upon such redemption .

75 . 06 . Payment on lost certificates . When-ever any person claiming to be the owner of anycertificate given by the county treasurer forlands sold for taxes shall have lost the same, orthe same shall be wrongfully detained from himand the landd therein describedd shall have beenredeemed,, he may exhibit to the county trea-surer evidence of such ownership, loss or deten-tion ; and upon his makingg it satisfactorily ap-pear to such treasurer that he is such owner andthat the same is lost or wrongfully detained, andexecuting to such treasurer, a bond with suffi-cient sureties, . to be approved by the treasurer ;conditioned thatt he will refund such redemp-tion money ; with eight per cent interest thereonif any other person shall thereafter show hisright thereto, such treasurer shall pay suchredemption money to such person

75.07 Redemption notices ; publication . (1)Each county treasurerr shall, at least 6 and notmore than 10 months :before the expiration ofthe time limited for redeeming lands sold asaforesaid, :cause to be published as a class 2notice, under: ch . 985 ;, in the county in which thelands are located, a list of'all unredeemed lands,specifying each tract or lot, the name of theperson to whom assessed, if' any, and theamount of taxes, charges and interest ; calcu-lated to the last day of redemption ; due on eachparcel, together with a notice that unless suchlands are redeemed on or before the day limitedtherefor ; specifying the same, they will be con-



or a building used .for agricultural purposes,and in any of said cases , such building has beenactually occupied for the purpose specified fox30 days immediately prior to the date of serviceof the notice of' . application for tax deed, or ifsuch lot or tract of land has been occupied andcultivated for agricultural purposes for 30 dayswithin the period .of ' 6 months immediately priorto the date of service of the notice of applicationfor the tax deed , then notice of application fortax deed shall be served upon the occupant orone of' the occupants thereof If the records ofthe office of register of deeds in the countywhere such land is situated show that such lot ortract of land is incumbered by an unsatisfiedmortgage or , mortgages , such notice of applica-tion fox tax deed shall be served upon at leastone of' the mortgagees in each such mortgage , orupon the last assignee or one of the last assign-ees of each such mortgage , if' the assignment isrecorded

(2) Such notice shall state the name of theowner and holder of' the tax sale certificate , andthe date thereof; the description of the landsinvolved , the amount for which the lands weresold and that such amount will bear interest asprovided by law , and shall give notice that afterthe expiration 'of .3' months from the date ofservice of ' such notice a tax deed will be appliedfor . A notice of' application for a tax deed shallnot be sewed earlier than 88 days prior to theearliest date on which the holder of a taxcertificate is by its terms entitled to a deed . Theowner and holder of such tax sale certificatemay include in said notice all the certificates heholds upon the same tract of land whichh areeligible for- application for tax deed .

(3) The notice of application for tax deedmay be served by the owner andd holder of anytax sale certificate sold by any county treasureror by any city treasurer authorized by law to selllands for nonpayment of city taxes or assess-ments, or by any person acting for the ownerand holder . The notice s̀hall be served . in themanner that service of a summons in a court ofrecord is made , or by certified mail , with returnreceipt of the addressee only demanded . Ifnotice cannot ba given by use of ` either of theforegoing methods, the owner and holder of ' thetax sale certificate or an authorized agent shallmake an affidavit setting forth the effort tomake service, the inability to do so , and shall filethe affidavit with the county clerk as to countytax sale certificates , or in cities authorized bylaw to sell lands for nonpayment of city taxes orassessments with the city treasurer as to city taxsale certificates . . In such cases the not i ce shall bepublishedd by the owner and holder as a class 3notice, under ch . 985 , in the county in which thelands are located . The affidavit of the owner

75.11 Compensation of printer . (1) Theprinter who publishes the list and notice of thetime when the redemption of landd sold for thenonpayment of taxes will expire shall receivecompensation therefor the same as is providedfor legal notices under ch 985, except that whenthe same is published under contract,' as pro-vided by law, he shall receive the compensationfixed by such contract and no more . .

75.12 Deed , notice of application for . (1) Notax deed shall be issued' on any lot or tract ofland which has been or shall hereafter be soldfor the nonpayment of taxes, unless a writtennotice of application for tax deed shall havebeen served upon the owner, or one of theowners of` record in the office of register ofdeeds of the county wherein the land is situated .If such lot or tract be improved by a dwellinghouse, or building used for business purposes,

75.09 TAX SALES

shalll also, at least 3 months previous to the timelimited for the redemption of any lands sold fortaxes, cause to be posted up copies of the listand notice specified in s . 75,07Z in at least 4public places in his county , one of which copiesshall be posted up in some . conspicuous place inhis. office ,

75 . . 10 Mistake in notice . Whenever, by mis-take or otherwise, such treasurer neglects orfails to include in his published listt any suchtract or tracts of land or to publish such list inaccordance with the requirements of law, thesame_ may be published : at anyy time within 2,years after the expiration of 5 years as to taxcertificates which antedate 1945, 4 years and 6months for the .1945 .tax certificates, 4 years forthe 1946 tax, certificates, 3 years and 6 monthsfor the 1947 ; tax : certificates, and thereafter 3years; such publication shall be made in thesame manner and for the same time as pre-scribed in the preceding sections, and suchtreasurer shall specify in his notice accompany-ing such published list when the time for makingredemptionn of such lands from such sale willexpire, which time shall not be less than 6 normore than 10 months from the expiration of'thefull 2 weeks required for the aforesaid publica-tion and all deeds made upon such tracts of landafter the expiration of 5 years as to tax certifi-cates which antedate 1945, 4 years and 6 monthsfor the 1945 tax certificates, 4 years for the 1946tax certificates, 3 years and 6 months for the1947 tax certificates, and thereafter 3 years,shall after the expiration of such extended pe-riod of redemption, be as valid and effectual asif such publication had been made at the timerequired in such section

2088


and holder of the tax sale certificate as toinability to secure service personally or by certi-fied, mail, together with proof' of publication ofthe notice, shall be deemed completed service ofthe notice of application for tax deed . .

(4) Before the tax deed is issued , proof ' ofservice, or the returned certified mail receipt , or,proof ' of' publication of the notic e of applicationfor tax deed shall be filed with the officerauthorized by law to issue the tax deed , and acopy of the proof" of • secvice , returned certifiedmail receipt; or proof of publication. with evi-dence of the cost of'-publicationn shall . be filedwith the county treasurer as to county tax salecertificates and with the city treasurer as to citytax sale certificates . After the copies have beenfiled with the county or city treasurer it shall benecessary to . pay , in order to redeemm the lot ortract of land , or any part or, interest therein , inaddition to the redemption °value of the tax saleecertificates, . $1 . 50 for each person served withthe notice or , if n ot ice is sent b y certified mail,,the cost of sending any notices by certified mail ,plus the cost of publication of the notice .. If'there is no occupant of the lands as hereinbeforedefined , the applicant for tax deed shall file anaffidavit to that effect with the officer autho-rized by law to i ssue the tax deed .

(5) The grantee in any tax deed, his heirs orassigns, or its successors or assigns , shall neverrecover , or be entitled to receive ' from anycounty or city of the first class the amount dueon any tax s ale certificate or ce rtificates uponwhich such deed is issued, or any pact thereof ', ifsuch deed be set aside or declared void solelyupon the ground that the notice required by thissection was not duly served or that the proof ofsuch servicee was insufficient , or that the affida-vit as to nonoccupancy was not duly made orwas in suffi c i ent . .

(6) No tax deed shall be taken upon anynotice of application _ therefor after one yearfrom the last date of ' service of such notice .

(7) This section shall supersede all provisionsof law, including the provisionss of any citycharter', which are in conflict with it .

History: . 1979 c 145; 1981. c 210

75.13 Filing affidavit If a proper affidavit ofservice of notice of land sold for taxes or aproper pLOOf of nonoccupancy, in due form , asprovided in s . 75 12, has heretofore been filedeither with the county clerk or with the countytreasurer, the fact that such affidavit of serviceof, notice or affidavit of nonoccupancy or suchproof has not been otherwise filed shall not ,after 6, months after April 2, 1917, be alleged orraised in any action or . pxoceeding attacking orquestioning the title ofthe person claiming an

75.14 Deeds, execution of; rights under ; evi-dence. (1) If any land sold for nonpayment oftaxes shall not be redeemed as aforesaid the cityor village tr'easur'er or county clerk shall , afterthe expiration of ' the time prescribed by law forthe redemption thereof ', on presentation to himof the certificate of such sale and proof ' ofservice of notice , execute in the name of thestate and of his city , village or county , as suchofficer thereof ', under his hand and the seal ofthe city, village or county , to the purcha s er , hisheirs or assigns, a deed of the land so remainingunredeemed,' and shall acknowledge the samewhich shall vest in the grantee an absolute estatein fee simple in suchland subject , however , toall unpaid taxes and charges which are a lienthereon and to ' recor'ded restrictions and re-demption as provided in this chapter ; and suchdeed duly witnessed' and acknowledged shall bepresumptive evidence of the regularity of all theproceedings, from the valuation of the land bythe assessor up to and including the executionof` the deed , and may be recorded with the likeeffect as other conveyances of land

`(2) The county clerk shall not issue a deed ofany parcel of land until by carefully comparingthe advertised list of the same for redemptionwith the treasurer's list of ' said lands in his bookof ' sales he shall find that the description of suchparcel of' land so to be conveyed has beencorrectly and fully published, in such advertisedlist of xedemptions; and if' upon such examina-tion the county clerk shall find any error oromission in any such advertised description heshall enter opposite the description of said landin his book of sales a statement of the fact ofsuch error or omission .. If the description ofsaid land in the book of sales is in error , thecounty .: board shall cause suchh certificate to becanceled and direct the county treasurer tocorrect the description thereof and resell thesame at the next ensuing sale of lands for unpaidtaxes.. If the error or omission is in only theadvertised list of redemptions , the county trea -surer shall correct and readve rtise the same forredemption in the next such publication and theperiod of redemption shall be extended therebyan additional year , .

(3) Whenever an application for a tax deed ismade pursuant to law to the county clerk of an ycounty having a population of five hundredthousand or more inhabitants , such countycleck ; before issuing any such tax deed convey-ing title to the landss or parts of land s describedin such application shall require the applic a ntor applicants, excepting such county and any


interest in said landd growing out of the certifi-cate of sale set forth in such notice or pro o f. .

History : 1979 c 89


covenants creating any debt or lien against orupon the property, or that will require thegrantee to expend money for any purpose,except such as may require said grantee to keepthe premises in sanitary or sightly condition,contribute to the cost of maintaining privateroads , or to abate nuisances or undesirableconditions .. Provided that while any county isthe owner of` lands so acquired it shall not berequired to expend any money to keep thepremises in sanitary or sightly condition or tocontribute to , the cost of maintaining privateroads or to abate nuisances or undesirableconditions, but its successo rs in tit l e shall besubject thereto and to covenants and restric-tions as provided in this section Any rights theformer owner had to enforce the restrictionsand covenants to which this subsection is appli-cable against the grantor and other partiesowning property subject to such restrictionsand covenants, except forfeitures , right of reen-try ; or reverter, shall likewise survive to thegrantee in said tax deed or deed upon foreclo-sure of tax certificate , and to his or its heirs,successors a nd assig ns . .Income tax lien is extinguished by tax deed under 75 14 or

by judgment under 75.. 521 . . 62 Atty.. Gen . . 234

75043 Defer taking of tax deed. (1) In thissection :

(a) "Dwelling" means any building that con-tains one or 2 dwelling units and any landincluded with that building in the same entry onthe tax roll,

(b) "Dwelling unit" means a structure or thatpart of a structure used as a home, residence orsleeping place ` by one person or by 2 or morepersons maintaining a` common household , tothe exclusion of all others .

(2) The council of any city authorizedd by lawto collect and sell its own taxes may by ordi-riance direct its treasurer to defer the taking oftax deeds by the city on dwellings , The ordi-hance shall designate the period of time that thetaking of a tax deed shall be deferred after theone-year period provided by law . The deferralperiod may not exceed 2 years, The deferralshall apply to those delinquent taxes and assess-ments incurred while the dwelling was ownedand occupied by the person who owns andoccupies the building at the beginning of` thedeferral per iod , If ' the ' owner ceases to occupythe dwelling during the deferral period, the citytreasurershall take a tax deed on the dwelling assoon as practicable . A city adopting an ordi-nance under this section may require the dwell-ing owner to ' submit proof that the owner iseligible for a deferral under this section ..

Histo ry: 1981 c. .322

city authorized by law to sell its own delinquenttaxess or assessments at public auction , toproduce and submit proof, showing that allunredeemed delinquent general or special taxcertificates of a tax levy year the same oc priorto the tax levyy year of the tax certificate onwhich such applicant is applying for a tax deedupon taxes or assessments theretofore assessedand levied against such lands or parts of landsby any city located in such county and by lawautho r ized to sell its own delinquent taxes orassessments at public auction, upon which thetime limitations of s '' 7.5 . 20 shall not have ex-pired , have been purchased by and the taxcertificates therefor assigned to the applicantfor such tax deed or purchased by and assigned

an applicationto somee other, person . Whenever nfor a tax deed is made pursuant to law to the citytreasurer of any city within such county autho-rized by law to sell lands for the nonpayment ofcity taxes or assessments, suchh city treasurerbefore issuing any such tax deed conveying titleto the lands or parts of lands described in suchapplicationn shall require thee applicant or appli-cants, excepting such cityy or the county withinwhich such city is located , to produce andsubmit proof ', showing that all unredeemeddelinquent general or special state and countytax or county special assessment tax sale certifi-cates of a tax levy year , the same or prior to thetax levy year of ' the tax certificate on which suchapplicant is applying for a tax deed upon taxesor assessments theretofore assessed and leviedagainst such lands or parts of, lands by saidcounty , upon which the time limitations of s .75 20 shall not have expired, have beenpurchased by and the tax certificates thereforrassigned to the applicant for such taxx deed orpurchased by and . :assigned to some otherperson .

(4) Whenever a deed in the chain of title shallcontain valid and enforceable restrictions andcovenants running with the land , as hereinafterdefined and limited, said restrictions and cove-nants shall survive and be enforceable after theissuance of a tax deed or a deed upon foreclo-sure of tax certificate to the same extent thatthey would ' be enforceable against a voluntarygrantee of the owner of the title immediatelyprior to the delivery -of the tax deed ' Thissubsection shall apply to the usual restrictionsand covenants limiting the use of property; thetype , character and location of building , cove-nants against nuisances and what the formerparties deemed to be undesirable conditions , in,upon and about the property ,' covenants tocontribute to the cost of maintaining privateroads, and other similar restrictions and covepants; but this subsection shall not protect

75.14 TAX SALES 2090


75.145 Correction' of description by action .Any tax deed issued by a county or a city of'thefirst class containing an incomplete, indefiniteor incorrect real estate description, and whichdescription follows that set forth in the taxcertificate upon which such tax deed issued,may be corrected in an action brought in thecircuit court in the same manner as actions forthe 'reformation of instruments . Such deed socorrected shall be valid as of'the date of the firstissue .

75 . 15 ' Deed on lost certificate . Whenever anycertificate given by the county treasurer for -lands sold for taxes shall be lost or wrongfullywithheld from the owner and such land shallnot have been redeemed the county board mayreceive evidence of such loss or wrongful deten-tion, and on satisfactory pr'oof' of the fact maycause a deed as aforesaid to be executed to suchperson as may appear to them to be the rightfulowner of such certificate of the lands describedtherein; but no such, deed, if wrongfully orimproperly granted, shall be binding on thecounty in respect to any of its covenants, norshall it vest any right, title or interest in thegrantee or hiss assigns ;

75 .16 Deed, by whom executed ; form . Alldeeds of lands sold for the nonpayment of taxeshereafter executed shall be executed .d by theproper officer authorized by law to execute .thesame in the name of'the state of Wisconsin, andof the proper county, city or village as thegrantors therein, And shall be substantially inthe following or: other equivalent foam :To all to whom these presents shall come,greeting :

Whereas, : . . . (or assignee of' . . . .) has depositedin the office of the county clerk of'the county of

in the state of Wisconsin, a certificate (orcertificates) of'the (here name the officer mak-ing`the sale) of said county, whereby it appears,as the fact is, that the following described piece(or pieces) or parcel `(or parcels) of'land lyingand being situated in the county of , to wit :(Here describe the lands) was (or were), for thenonpayment of taxes ; sold by the (here namethe officer making the sale) at public, auction at

in the county of ., , on the day of_ , in1. 1 the year of our Lord one thousand nine hun-

dred and . , to the said . for- the sum ofdollars and cents ; in the whole, which sumwas. the amount of-taxes assessed and due andunpaid on said tract (or, sseveral tracts) of land,together with the costs and charges of such saledue therewith at the time of making such sale,the whole of which sum of money has been paidby the aforesaid purchaser' (or purchasers) ; and

75 : 17 Execution of tax deeds by city. AfterFebruary 22, 1859, in every conveyance of landfor nonpayment of taxes due to any city underthe law authorizing it to assess and collect taxes,the deedshall conform as near as may be to theform prescribed by x .75 . .16 ; shall be executed inthe name of the state of Wisconsin and in thename of' such city as grantor, and shall be sealedwith the corporate seal of the city .

75.18 New deeds in place of void ones .When any deed or instrument in writing in-tended to be a deed has been made forthenonpayment of' taxes no other deed shall beissued or made therefor to any person exceptupon the following conditions : If such taxesremain unpaid and suchdeed is void for non-compliance with s 75 ..12 ; or informal and insuf-ficient, and the grantee therein named, his heirsor assigns shall, within 3 years after therecording thereof and before any other deedupon a subsequent sale of the same land for thenonpayment of taxes has been issued to some

2091 TAX SALES 75 . 18

whereas it further appears , as the fact is, that theowner (or owners) or claimant (or claimants) ofsaid land has (or have) not redeemed from saidsale the lands which were sold as aforesaid, andsaid lands are now unredeemed from such sale,whereby said described lands have become for-feited and the said purchaser; his (her or their)heirs or assigns is (or are) entitled to a convey-ance thereof:Now, therefore , know all by these presents

that the county of , in said state , and the stateof Wisconsin, in consideration of the saidmoney aforesaid and the premises , and in con-formity to law , have given and hereby do give,grant and convey the tract (or several tracts) ofland above described, together with the heredit-aments and appurtenances , to the said andto his (or her or their) heirs and assigns, to theirsole use and benefit forever .

In "testimonywhereof, I , . .' the (here desig-nate the officer) of the county of . . . ., haveexecuted this deed pursuant to and in virtue ofthe authority in me vested by the statutes of thestate of Wisconsin ," and for and on behalf of saidstate and the county of afo resaid , a nd havehereunto subscribed my name officially andaffixed the seal of the said . . (name it) , at . ., insaid county of . this . . . day of . . . ., in the yearof'our, Lord one thousand nine hundred and . .[L . S

A B .(Here give official designation . )

Done in 'presence : of

Aistoc y: 1975 0 . 54 s 9] (8)


the certificate, the right of the defendants or anyof them to redeem the premises at any timebefore sale and costs and disbursements, includ-ing the necessa ry expenses for an abstract oftitle ,, shall, so far as they are applicable , prevailin such actions. When costs are allowed to theplaintiff , the costs, exclusive of disbursements ,shall be discretionary with the court but shallnot exceed the amount of ' the certificates at issuein the action, and the costs when allowed shallbe an additional lien upon the property de-scribed in the certificates The defendant may ,in all cases within the time limited by law foranswering the complaint , executee and deliver tothe plaintiff or the plaintif'f's attorney a quit-claim deed of the lands described in the com-plaint, conveying all the right , title and interestof the defendant at the time of the commence-ment of the suit or may , within such time , eitherafter having delivered the deed or without deliv-ery , answer disclaiming any title to the lands inquestion at the time of the commencement ofthe suit, , in either of which cases the plaintiffshall not recover costs personally against anydefendant who quitclaims or who shall establishthe disclaimer at the trial . The plaintiff ' mayinclude in one action all the certificates theplaintiff holds upon the same tract of land , Thesale in such actions shall be conducted, certifi-cates made and filed, the report made andconfirmed and a deed executed and delivered inthe same manner and with the same effect as inactions " for foreclosure of mortgages ,

History : 1977 c 83, 1 74, 203, 2 72 ; 1981 c . 322 .

75195 Extended timefor beginning tax fore-closure . (1) In this section :

(a) "Dwelling" means any building that con-tains one or 2 dwelling units and any landincluded with that building in the same entry onthe tax roll .

(b) "Dwelling unit" means a structure or thatpart of a structure used as a home, residence orsleeping place by one person or by 2 or morepersons maintaining a common household, tothe exclusion of all others .

(2) The council of' an ,y city authorized by lawto collect and sell its own taxes may by ordi-nance direct its treasurer to defer the foreclo-sure of tax sale certificates held by the city ondwellings . . The ordinance shall designate theperiod of time that the foreclosure of tax salecertificates shall be deferred after the one-yearperiod ; provided by law , The defer r al periodmay not exceed 2 years.. The deferral shall applyto those delinquent taxes and assessments in-curred while the dwelling was ownedd and occu-pied by the person who owns and occupies thebuilding at the beginning of' the deferral periodIf thee owner ceases to occupy the dwelling

other person , present such void, informal orinsufficient deed ' or a certified copy of therecord thereof together with sufficient proof 'that he is such grantee , heir or assignee , and thathe has not conveyed such land , the propercounty clerk or other proper officer shall exe-cute to such grantee , his heir or assignee an-other deed of said land which shall recite thefact of the issuing of such void , informal orinsufficient deed , with a statementt of the vol-ume and page wherein recorded and that thetaxes on account of the nonpayment of which itwas issued remain unpaid ; and such deed dulyacknowledged and recorded shall - be presump-tive evidence of title to the land therein de-scribed ; but no new deed shall be issued untilnotice of ' the application therefor is published asa class 3 notice , under ch. 985 , in the countywherein the lands are situated or until 30 daysafter personal service of the , notice upon allpersons interested in the lands , The issuing ofthe new deed shall not extend : in favor of thegrantee therein , or his heirs or assignees thelimitation which would have begun to runagainst him on the first deed if ' it had not beenvoid, informal or insufficient .

75.19 Foreclosure of certificates . The holderof any tax certificate, instead of taking a taxdeed, may foreclose the certificate by action asin a case of a mortgage on real estate at any timeafter 3 years from the date of the certificate ,except that when razing costs incurred by anycity or village are included in the amount duefor taxes the period of' redemption shall be oneyear from the date of the certificate at theexpiration of which the county or its assignsshall be entitled to a deed , ., or one year for taxcertificates for ' 1982 and thereafter , on taxes dueany city authorized by law to collect and sell itsown taxes and before the holder would bedebarred from demanding a tax deed .; Theholder of any tax certificate may inany caseinvolving the right of redemption or i nterest ofany minor or person adjudged mentally incom-petent , after a tax deed has been issuedunderthis chapter , foreclose the right of redemptionor interest of the minor or person adjudgedmentallyy incompetent . In such an action theminor or person adjudged mentally incompe-tent must appear by guardian adlitem, and thegeneral guardian , if the person has one, shall bejoined as a partyy defendant . All, the lawss andrules of p r actice r elating, to the fo reclosure ofmortgages, as to the persons necessary andproperr to be made parties ,; pleading ; ; evidence ,the judgment of foreclosure and sale , the rightof the plaintiff: to be subrogated to thee benefitsof all liens upon the premises necess arily satis-fied by the plaintiff in order to save the lien of

75 .18 TAX SALES 2092Electronically scanned images of the published statutes.

during the deferral period, the city treasurershall foreclose the tax sale certificate on thedwelling as soon as practicable. A city adoptingan ordinance under this section may require thedwelling owner to submit proof that the owneris eligible for a deferral under this section .

, History:` 1981 c . 322

75 . 20 Limitations on certificates and issue ofdeeds ; life of tax certificate liens ,. (1) DEFiNr-rtotvs> Wherever used in this section :

(a) "County" shall include "city of the. firstclass" " and "county treasurer" shall include"treasures of a city,of'the first class"

(b) The words "tax certificate" or "tax certif-icates" shall mean the tax sale certificate whichiss issued evidencing the sale of land for delin-quent taxes..

(2) TAX CERTIFICATES; WHEN VOID .. Tax certif-icates shall be void- after 11 yearss followingDecember 31 of the year in which such certifi-cates were dated

(9) COUNTY TREASURER TO CANCEL ALL. OUT-LAWED TAXES . No deed shall be issued or actioncommenced on any tax certificate whateverafter it shall have become void by virtuee of thestatute of.limitations provided in this section . .The interest in the land represented by suchcertificate shall terminate- upon the last dateuponn which a deed could have been issuedthereon., or an action, could have been com-menced thereon if no summons and complaintwas served and filed prior to such date Thecounty treasurershall cancel all tax certificateswhich have become void by limitation includingall tax certificates which became void by opera-tion of s 75 20, 1943 stets , by May 15, 1945,and shall make an entry in his record' of unre-deemed tax sales evidencing such cancellation :.As to tax certificates not in his possession whichhave become void, the county treasurer shallcancel the same on his record of unredeemed taxsale certificates and such cancellation on suchrecord shall have the same force and effect asthough the cancellation had been made uponsuch tax sale certificates .

(9a) CERTIFICATION OF CANCELLATION TO LO-CAL TREASURER. Whenever the county treasurershall cancel a tax cerCificate which has becomevoid by virtue of any statutes of limitation heshall within 30 days thereafter ~in writing certifysuch cancellation to the proper town, : city orvillage treasurer who shall make entry thereof inhis records Such cancellation need not be socertified in cases where the county has settled infull with the town, city or village at tax settle-ment date

(10) STAY BY INJUNCTION NOT PART OF LIMITA-TION. When the issuing of a deed on a taxcertificate or certificates or the commencement

75 .23 Canceled deeds, certificates of countyclerk. Whenever the county board shall orderthe cancellation of any tax deed, the countyclerk shall furnish to the owner of the lands


of an action thereon shall be stayed by injunc-tion, the time of" the continuance of ' such injunc-tion shall not be a part of the time hereinabovelimited in this section as the life of a taxcertificate

History : ' 1975 c 198; 1981 c, 390 s . 252 ; 1983 a 189 .Cross Reference: See 74 09 for authority of county trea-

surer to destroy duplicate receipts and stub books .

75 . 21 Limitation on special certificates .Fromm and after 6 years from the date of anystreet commissioner's certificate or comptrol-ler's certificate or other special tax certificateissued or to be issued by the proper officer orofficers of any city, town or village in this state,and denoting a charge against any lot or parcelof'land in such city, town or village for a specialtax or assessment thereon, no action, either atlaw or in equity,, shall be maintained on suchcertificate, but certificates of sale of lands fornonpayment of such special taxes or assess-ments shall not be limited by s . 75 21 but thelimitations provided by s . 75 20 shall be ap,plica-ble thereto ..

75.22 - Tax sales ; void ; refund ; immaterial er-rors. If after thesale or conveyance of any landssold forr the nonpayment of taxes and within thetime hereinafter prescribedd it shall be discov-eredthat the sale or the certificate issuedthereon was invalid, the county board shallmake an order, briefly stating the reason there-for, directing that the money paid for suchcertificate on the sale, and all subsequentcharges thereon, and all subsequent taxes paidon the lands described therein by the purchaseror his assigns, be refunded' with interest to suchpurchaser or his assigns, upon the delivery ofthe certificate or deed to be canceled ; and if thecounty treasurer shall, in pursuance of suchorder, offer to the person entitled thereto hismoney as aforesaid, and he shall refuse toreceive the same and cancel the certificate ordeed;' he shall not be entitled to receive anyinterest on the money so paid by him after theday of such offer and refusal ; nor shall anyrecovery ever be otherwise had against thecounty on such deed or certificate . But no sale,certificate, or conveyance shall be deemedinvalid within the meaning of this section byreason of any mistake or irregularity in any ofthe tax proceedings not affecting the ground-work of the tax ; nor shall any county be liable topay or refund any moneys by reason of"any suchmistake or irregularity .`


particular tract of' land upon which the same areto be assessed and the amount chargeablee toeach parcel and the year when the original taxwas assessed, andcertify the same to the clerk ofthe proper town, city or village; and the clerkreceiving such certificate shall enter ' the same onthe tax roll accordingl y, The lien of any taxreassessed as provided in this section shall at-tach to the land as of ' the - date when such tax asoriginally levied became a lien and shall con-tinue and constitute the lien of any tax salecertificate issued upon the sale of such lands forsuch reassessed tax . . Such lien shall be superiorto the lien of ' any tax sale certificate issued uponthe sale of such land dated after the date of thelien of such reassessed tax but prior to the dateof the tax sale certificate issued upon the sale ofsuch land for such reassessed tax . .

(2) Whenever the county board cancels adefective or void tax certificate or tax deed , orwhenever the county treasurer shall have with-held from sale any delinquent lands under s ..74 . . 39 , and such lands cannot be ,justly taxed forthe item in question, the county clerk shallcharge the respective town , city or villagewherein such lands are situated in his nextapportionment of county taxes with the amountof the refund if ' any occasioned by the invalidityof such tax certificate or tax deed.. When the taxcertificate or tax deed so canceled is owned andheld by the county or the treasu rer shall havewithheld from sale any delinquent lands pursu-ant to s ' 74 . 39 , such charge shall be in theamount of the tax without interest .

75.26 Limitation . (1) GRANTEE IN DEED .. Noaction shall be maintained by the grantee or anyone claiming under him to recover the posses-sion of any land or, any interest therein whichshall have been conveyed by deed fo r the non-payment of taxes unless such action shall bebrought within three years next after the date ofthe execution of such deed ; or if such landdemandedd shall be , when so conveyed , vacantand unoccupied and so remain, unless suchaction be brought within three years next afterthe date of the recording of such deed, or unlesssuch grantee or those claiming under him shallhave been in actual, not constructive , posses-sion of the land so demanded for three succes-sive years during the five yearss next after therecording of such deed ; provided , however , thatif" the former owner takes possession of any suchland at any timee within . : three months of theexpiration of three years f r om the date of theexecution of such deed , then and in such casethee grantee in such tax deed or those claimingunder him may bring and maintain an action torecover possession of said land at any time

75 . 24 Limitation , claims under illegal deedor certificate . Every action brought or claimpresented against any county or other munici-pal corporation for the recovery of'any sum ofmoney on account of any defective or void taxcertificatee or tax deed made or issued by anysuch county or municipality shall be com-menced or presented during the life of such taxcertificates on which such deed was issued inaccordance with the limitations as provided in s .75 ..20 ; and whenever an action relating to thevalidity of a tax certificate or tax deed shall havebeen commenced within the time above limitedand a final judgment shall not be rendered insuch action until after the expiration of'the timeso limited, in such case an action may be com-menced or claim presented on .account of suchcertificate or deed within one year after finaljudgment declaring the same void .

75.25 Lien of reassessed tax . (1) If thecounty board, on making an order directing therefunding of'money on account of the invalidityof any tax certificate or tax deed, shall besatisfied that the lands described in such certifi-cate or deed were justly taxablee for such tax orsome portion thereof-, or, when thee treasurershall have withheld from sale any delinquentlands under s '74,39, they shall be satisfied thatsuch lands were justly taxable for suchtax orsome portion thereof, they shall fix the amountof such tax justly chargeable thereon on eachparcel thereof',, and direct the same to be as-sessed in thee next assessment of county taxes,with interest thereon at the same rate thatwould have applied had the tax beenn collectedbefore the taxx sale or redeemed from the taxsale, from the time when such tax was due andpayable to the end of'the tax levy year in whichsuch tax will be placed on the tax roll as areassessment ; and, the county clerk ;, in his nextapportionment of county taxes, shall charge thesame as a special tax to the town, city or villagein which such lands are situated, specifying the

75 .23 TAX SALES

described in such deed , upon request therefor , acertificate in writing , executed under his handand official seal , stating the fact of such cancel-lation , the date thereof, the description of thelands as to which such deed is canceled , the dateof such deed, the date of the sale upon whichsuch deed is based and the reason for suchcancellation . . Such certificate may be recordedin the office of the register of deeds of thecounty where the lands therein described arelocated , and such record shall be prima facieevidence of the facts therein stated and of thecancellation of the tax deed therein mentionedas to the lands thereinn described

2094Electronically scanned images of the published statutes.

within three months next after the expiration ofsaid three years,

(2) TAX DEED VOID, WHEN. Whenever theoriginal owner, or any one claiming under him,of lands which have been conveyed by deed forthe nonpayment of taxes, shall continue to paythe taxes upon such lands, and shall pay thetaxes assessed against said lands continuouslyfor five years next after the execution of such taxdeed, without actual notice of the existence ofsuch tax deed, said tax deed shall be void and ofno effect . .

75 .27 ` Limitation on former owner . No actionshall be maintained by the former owner or anyperson claiming under him to recover the pos-session of any land or any interest therein whichshall have been conveyed by deed for- the non-payment of taxes or to avoid such deed againstany person claiming under such deed unlesssuch action shall be brought within 3 years nextafter the recording of such deed . . Whenever anysuch action shall be commenced upon any taxdeed heretofore or hereafter issued after theexpiration of 3 years from the date of therecording of such deed, such deed, if executedsubstantially in the form prescribed by law forthe execution of tax deeds, shall be conclusiveevidence of thee existence andd legality of allproceedings from and including the assessmentof the property for taxation up to and includingthe execution of such deed,

75 . 28 Application of all limitations. . (1) Thelimitation for bringing actions as provided in s .75 27 or any other limitation in favor of a taxdeed or a tax, certificate, except in case of actualpossession founded on a tax deed, shall notapply where the taxes, for the nonpayment ofwhich the land was sold and the tax deedexecuted, were paid prior to the sale, or wherethe land was redeemed from the operation ofsuch sale as provided by law or where the landwas not liable to taxatiOn ; nor shall such limita-tion apply where a single tax deed only has beenissued and the original owner has, before theissuance of such tax deed, paid all taxes leviedagainst the land for the 3 years ensuing after theyear for which the land was returned delinquentand sold, except as herein provided .

(2) The tax deed grantee or his assigns may,at anyy time after the tax deed is issued andrecorded, serve a notice onthe owner of recordof the original "title,, stating that he holds a taxdeed on the land of such original owner andgiving a description of the land so deeded and areference to the volume and page where suchdeed is recorded, which notice shall be served inthee same manner as a summons in a court of

75.285 Action; condition precedent . No ac-tion or proceeding shall be maintained by theformer ownerr or anyy person claiming underhim, based upon the invalidity of any tax certifi-cate or tax deed due to the failure of the countytreasurer heretofore or hereafter to publish orpost any notice for the sale of delinquent taxeson land, unless within thirty days prior to thecommencement of such action, tender shall bemade to the owner of such tax certificate or taxdeed, of the amount of the taxes, charges andinterest due and the owner of'such certificate ordeed shall fail to release or transfer same . If'theowner of any certificate or deed shall give noticein the manner prescribed in s 75,28 and theoriginal owner shall fail to redeem after a periodof sixty days by depositing with the owner ofsuch certificate or deed or the county treasurer,for the benefit of'such tax certificate or tax deedowner, thee amount of the taxes with interest and

2095 TAX SALES 75.285

record or by registered mail , addressed to suchowner of record and proof of which service shallbe filed in the office of the county clerk of thecounty in which the lands are situated . If thepost-office address of the owner of ' record of theoriginal title is unknown , such tax deed grantee ,or his assigns, may , upon filing in the office ofsuch county clerk his affidavit that he is un able,with due diligence , to make personal service of'such notice or to ascertain the post-office ad-dress, of ' such former owner, publish such noticeas a class ,3 notice , under ch . 985 , in the countywhere the land described in the tax deed islocated and proof ' of such publication shall befiled in the office of such county clerk .

(3) If such notice be served and filed or suchnotice, published and proof of publication filedthirty day s or more before the expiration ofthree years from the date of recording the taxdeed , : the limitation provided by s 7527 shallapply : If such notice is not so served and filed ,or published and proof filed , the limitationprovided by said s . 75 .2 ' 7 shall be extended untilthe expiration of ' thirty days from and after theday such noti ce is served and filed or publishedand proof ' filed . In any action brought by theoriginal owner to set aside such t ax deed afterthe service or publication and filing of the noticeaforesaid , the original owner , in case heprevails , shall as a condition of relief pay to thetaxx deed claimant the sum of five dollar s foreach description and the costs of serving orpublishing the aforesaid notice , in addition toall other costs and charges now provided for bylaw . . The provisions of law regulating costs andcharges for the service of a summons in a courtof record shall appl y to and govern the amountthat may be charged for the service or publica-tion of such notice .


75.35 Sale of tax certificates and tax deededlands ; purchase of adjacent lands . (1) D EFCrri-rtorrs . The following terms, wherever used orreferred to in this section shall have the follow-ing respective meanings, unless a differentmeaning clearly appears from the context:

(a) "Municipality" meansany county, town,-city, village or other municipal or quasi-municipal corporation authorized by law topurchase tax certificates, take tax deeds orbecome the owner of tax deeded lands .

(b) "Tax deeded lands" means lands whichhave been acquired- by a municipality throughenforcement of the collection of delinquenttaxes by tax deed, foreclosure of tax certificate,deed in lieu of tax deed or other means . .

( 2) POWER OF MUNICIPALITY TO SELL TAXCERTIFICATES AND TAX DEEDED LANDS„ (a) Ex-cept as provided in s . 75 69, any municipalityshall have the power to sell and convey its landsacquired in thee enforcement of delinquent taxliens in such manner and upon such terms as itsgoverning body may by ordinance or resolutiondetermine, including without restriction be-cause of'enumeration ; sale by land contract, orby quitclaim or warranty deed with mortgage

75 . 31 "Possession " defined .. What shall con-stitute a possession of lands within the meaningof ss 75 26 to 75 30 and the extent of suchpossession shall be governed by the rules pre-scribed for determining an adverse possessionby a person claiming title founded upon awritten instrument .

75 .32 Taxation and sale of lands held bycounties . Real property upon which the countyholds any certificate of 'tax sale shall continueliable to taxation and to sale for unpaid taxes,and the county shall be the exclusive purchaserat the sale but when a tax deed shall be issued tothe county and it shall hold tax certificates ofsale unredeemed on the samee property for twosuccessive years subsequent to the date of thesale on which such deed shall issue, includingcertificates of sale made prior to the passage ofthese statutes, such property shall thereafter be

75 .285 TAX SALES

charges together with the costs of executing arelease or transfer of such certificate or deed,then the limitation prescribed in s . 75 27 shallapply and no action or proceeding herein re-ferred to shall be maintained . .

Histor y: 1981 c 3 90

75 .29 Actions of ejectment , when barred . Noaction to quiet title, remove a cloud on title, tocancel, annul or set aside any tax deed, nor ofejectment, trespass, waste or for other injury toland shall be brought as to lands purporting tobe conveyed by tax deed void on its face afterthe expiration of three years from the time ofthe recording of such deed .. Provided, that thelimitationn herein declared shall not apply unlessthe original owner or those claiming under himshall have failed to pay or redeem all the taxeslevied upon such lands from the time of the levyof the tax for the nonpayment of which the taxdeed was issued to the time of the recording ofthe tax deed, nor unless thee grantee in thee taxdeed or those claiming under him shall havepaid or redeemed all the taxes levied upon suchlands for three successive years next after suchrecording .

75.30 Action by original owner where' deedvoid, when barred . No action shall be broughtby the original owner for the recovery of landspurporting to be conveyedd for the nonpaymentof taxes by a deed void on its face after theexpiration of five" years from the date of therecording of'the tax deed, in cases where thegrantee in the tax deed shall have taken actualpossession of such land within two years aftersuch recording and shall have actually andcontinuously maintained such possession to theend of such period of five years :

2096

exempt from taxation until the same is sold bythe county . . The county clerk shall annually,before February 1, furnish to the assessors ofeach town a list of the lands in such townexempt under this section .. Nothing in thissection shall be so construed as to apply to landsowned by minors or persons adjudged mentallyincompetent .

History : 1977 c . 29 s 1647 (6) ; 1977 c 83, 203

75 . 34 Sale of certificates by counties . (1) Theseveral county treasurers, when no order to thecontrary shall have been made by the countyboard, shall sell and transfer, by assignment,any tax certificates held by the county to anyperson offering to purchase the same for theamount for which the land described thereinwas sold, with interest thereon at the rate speci-fied in the certificates ;; but every such salee shallincludee alll certificates in the hands of suchtreasurer on the same lands .

(2) No county board shall, at any sessionthereof, sell,, convey or transfer, or order ordirect the sale, conveyance or transfer of any taxcertificates owned or held by the countyy at lessthan the face value thereof unless the board haspreviously directed the county clerk to givenotice of their intention by publishing as a class3 notice, under ch 985, in the county, and thenotice has been so given Any and all sales,conveyances ox` transfers of such tax certificatesmade in violation of these provisions shall benull and void .


from vendee to secure any unpaid balance of thepurchase price . . Such mortgage may be fore-closed in the same manner as any other mort-gage. The title to lands conveyed by landcontract shall remain in the municipality untilfully paid for andd in the event of ' default in suchpayment the municipalityy may foreclose theland contract with costs and reasonable attor-ney fees When such land cont ract runs to aperson or private corporation, the lands thereinconveyed shall be placed on the tax roll and besubject to taxation the same as though absolutetitle thereto was vested in the purchaser undersuch land contract . . Such purch aser shall beliable to pay all taxes against such land and inthe event of failure to make such payment themunicipality may pay the same and add the sumso paid to the amount due on the land contract .

(b). The governing body of any municipalityauthorized by law to acquire tax certificatesmay , by ordinance prescribing the terms of sale,authorize its clerk or treasurer to sell and assignsuchh certificates, and in its discretion may re-stcict such sale ar assignment to persons havingan ownership interest in such lands or who owna tax certificate of a prior ' year thereon ..

(c) Any conveyance by land contract or deedor satisfaction of mortgage shall be executed bythe clerk of the municipality unde r his hand andthe seal of such municipality .

(d) The governing body of any municipalitymay delegate its power to manage and sell taxdeeded lands to a committee constituted of ' suchpersonnel and in such manner and compensatedat such rate as such governing body may byordinance determine , provided that the com-pensation and mileage of county board mem-bers serving on such committee shall be limitedand restricted as provided in s 59 06 (2) , or suchgoverning body may delegate the power ofacquisition, management and sale of tax deededlands or any part of such power to such officerand departments of the municipality as suchgoverning body may by ordinance determine ..Such ordinance shall prescribe the policy to befollowed in the acquisition , management andsale of tax deeded land and shall prescribegenerally the powers and duties of such commit-tee , officers , depa rtments, employes and agents .The governing body is authorized to engagelicensed real estate brokers and salesmen toassist in selling such lands and pay a commis-sion for such service and to advertise such salein such manner as it deems proper . Such gov-erning body may appropriate such sums ofmoney as may be necessary to. carry out theprovisions of this section .

(e) Any municipality acting either by itsgoverning body or by delegated authority asprovided in this section may sell and convey tax

75.36 Tax deeds to county . (1) DEFINITIONSAs used in this section , the following words ofphrases shall have the meaning herein given .

(a) "Adversely owned taxes " are nonout-lawed taxes which are not municipally owned ..

(b) "Municipally owned " means the benefi-cial interest in a tax belonging to any municipalgovernment , including town, city, village , met-ropolitan sewerage district or area, or county,which has the power to levy or compell thelevying of taxes , derived by returning taxes forcredit following which such taxes hav e beencharged back by the county to the taxing dis-


deeded lands to the former owner or ownersthereof and such conveyance shall not oper ateto revive any tax certificate lien or any other lienwhatsoever which was cut off and rendered voidby the tax deed , foreclosure of tax certificate,deed in lieu of tax deed , or other means bywhich the municipality acquiredd title to suchland, nor shall it revive the lien of an y tax salecertificate or tax dated subsequently to th e dateon which such municipality acquired itss title .The provisions of this paragraph shall operateretroactively upon any such sale or convey anceat any time heretofore made by any municipal-ity, The enactment into statute law of theprovisions of this paragraph shall not bedeemed an expression of legislative intent tha tthe prior common law of thiss state was other-wise than as herein provided . .

(3) PREFERENCE TO FORMER OWNER TO REPUR-CHASE . The governing body of any municipalitymay , at its option , by ordinance provide that inthe sale of tax deeded lands ,, the former owner-who - lost his title through delinquent tax collec-ti on enforcement procedure ,' or his heirs ,, maybe given such preference in the right to purchasesuch lands as such ordinance shalll provideSuch ordinance may provide that such sale beexempt from any or all provisions of s 75 . 69 . .Such ordinance shall not apply to tax deededlands which have been improved for or dedi-cated to a public use by such municipalitysubsequent to its acquisition thereof '..

(4) PURCHASE OF ADJACENT LANDS .. A munici-pality may purchase lands adjacen t to taxdeeded lands in cases where the governingboard of ' such municipality determine s thatsuch purchase will improve the salability ofsuch tax deeded lands or will createe acce ss tostreets or highways for lands lacking suchaccess ,

Cross Reference: See 59 .97 (1) for power ' of county todirect county clerk to sell or contract for sale and conveyanceof band owned by county, whether acquired by tax deed orotherwise . .

Ordinance under (3) allowed mortgagor to reacquire fore-closed property free of mortgage lien . Bank of Commerce v .Waukesha County, 89 W (2d) 715, 279 NW (2d) 237 (1979) .


Gates or taxes which are a lien thereon andappear on his records :

(a) Of the tax sale certificate upon which thedeed was taken ;

(b) Of every other municipally owned tax salecertificate and tax constituting a lien againstsuch parcel of land not outlawed by ss 75,20and 75 21 on the date of such deed ;

(c) Of' any other tax sale certificate or taxrepresenting adversely owned taxes not cut off'by the county's tax deed . .

(5) LOCAL CLERK ENTITLED TO CO PY . . Thecounty treasurer shall furnish a copy of suchstatement to the clerk of such municipalitywithin 30 days after receipt of the demand . .

(6) REDEMPT ION OF ADVERSE TAX LIENS .. Thecounty may, at its option, at any time prior tosale by it of land acquired by it by tax deed, payor redeem in whole, or in part any nonoutlawedmunicipally or adversely owned taxes, the lienof which is dated the same or subsequent to thedate of the tax certificate upon which thecounty's tax deed was taken . . But the county atthe time such land is sold by it shall redeem alladversely owned taxes, the lien of which is notcut off' by thee tax deed, and which are notoutlawed at that time, unless such land is soldsubject to such adversely owned taxes .

( 7) DEDUCTIONS FROM SALE PRICE .. . When landacquired by the county by tax deed has beensold by the county, it may make the followingdeductions from the sale price in the ordernamed :

(a) The county's actual expense for courtactions, sheriff's fees, abstracts, publicationfees, documentary revenue stamps and similaritems required in securing merchantable title tolands taken by tax deed, provided that nocharge shall be made for thee time of any countyofficer or employe except as specified in thisparagraph. The county board may determine afair and reasonable average cost per real estatedescription of such items in which case suchaverage cost shall be used in lieu of the exactamount of the foregoing items .

(b) All moneys paidd in :redemption of ad-versely or municipally owned taxes constitutingliens- against saidd land of date . equal or subse-quent to the date of tax sale certificate uponwhichh the county tax deed was taken . .

(c) The amount of the sales commissions paidto licensed real estate brokers f'or' the sale of theland .,

( 8) DISTRIBUTION OF NET PROCEEDS .. The netproceeds of the gross sale pricee of the land, if'any, remaining after the deductions outlined insub .. (7) (a), (b) and (c) have been taken, shallthen be prorated between the remaining non-outlawed municipally owned taxes outstanding

trict ; or where taxes are returned in trust by thetaxing district to the county for collection incases wherein the work of improvement waswholly or partly paid for by the municipality orperformed by its own labor; or cases whereinthe municipality has an excess delinquencycredit in tax roll of the particular year ; or wherethe municipality has an equity in the current taxroll ; or where the taxes are owned by thecounty ;

(c) "Taken by tax deed " or "takes tax deed"shall be understood to include the taking of titleby the county by a tax deed , or by means ofquitclaim deeds f rom former owners obtainedin the course of the county ' s effor t to enforcethe collection of delinquent taxes, or the lien oftax sale certificates outstanding against suchlands, or by a combination of such methods

(d) "Taxes" includes general property taxes ,metropolitan sewerage area or district taxes,special improvement assessments, and anyother charge, any of' which had resulted or mayresult in the issuance of ` a tax sale certificate ,and , also includes any tax sale certificate issuedon any of the foregoing, except as provided rms .77 04 and ch . 88 .

(2) WHEN AND HOW TAX DEED GIVEN .. Whenany lands upon which the county .y holds a taxce r tificate shall not be redeemed as provided bylaw, ., the county clerk shall execute to thecounty, in his name of office , a deed therefor,witnessed , sealed and acknowledged , and in likeform as deeds to individual s; and such deedsshall have the same force and effect as deedsexecuted by such clerk to individuals for landssold for the nonpayment of taxes ; but no suchdeed shall be issued until the county board shall ,by resolution, orderr thee same .

(3) COUNTY LIABILITY ON TAX DEED LANDS..The county taking .g such tax deeds shall not berequired to pay any delinquent of outstandingtaxes on such land, the redemption value of anymunicipal ity owned outstanding tax sale certifi-cates , or interest or charges ,, until the land issold by the county , or in the case of landsregistered as forest crop lands , until the forestcrop is taken off, and if the sum realized on thesale ofsuch lands or from the severance of suchforest crop is distributed between the countyand the municipalities in accordance ' with thissection there shall be no further liability uponthe county

(4 ) TREASURER'S STATEMENT, As of the datewhen the county takes a tax deed , the countytreasurer if " demanded in writing by a localmunicipality having an interest in the taxes onthe land; shall prepare a statement for eachparcel of land described in such tax deed, show-ing the redemption amount of the tax certifi-

75.36 TAX SALES 2098Electronically scanned images of the published statutes.

may be entered into and be operative between acounty and any town, city, village, metropolitansewerage district or area, drainage district, orany other territory, area or district for thebenefit. of ,which any taxes may be levied,therein, upon prior authorization and approvalthereof by the governing bodies thereof', provid-ing for the disposition of liabilities of'the countyto such municipality upon or arising out of thereturn to said county of delinquent specialassessments, delinquent general taxes, or both ;the disposition of special assessment tax salecertificates, general tax sale certificates, or both,of; which the county may be the holder orowner; the liabilities of the county arising byvirtue of its acquiring any or all of such taxcertificates, and the disposition of such liabili-ties; the taking of tax deeds by the county or anyor' all of'such tax sales certificates ; the liabilitiesof'the county arising out of the taking of any or,all of'such tax deeds and the disposition of suchliabilities ; 'the disposition and distribution ofthe proceedss of the sale of any or all of'such taxsale certificates, the sale of the lands upon whichsuch tax deeds are so taken, or both ; and thedetermination and disposition of any and allliabilities of the county in respect to any of theforegoing .'

( 2) LIABILITY OF COUNTY LIMITED, Such 3gT00-ments may include provisions that the countyupon acting pursuant to such agreement andthe provisions thereof shall not be accountableor liable for any amount greater than thatrealized by it upon the sale of any of suchcertificates or upon the sale of said lands towhich if takes tax deed thereunder or theamounts set forth in said agreement, and that inacting pursuant' to such' agreement the countyshall not incur' or be subjected to any liability toanyone exec pt as therein set forth and that ifsuch county should by reason of acting there-under'incur `or be subjected to any other ordifferent liability to pay or account in respect tosuch delinquent special assessments, generaltaxes, or both, then such local municipality willreimburse the county for such excess liabilityand indemnify it against any loss or damagethat the county may sustain by reason of actingpursuant to such agreement; provided, that thecity, town or' village entering into such agree-ment may make payment, settlement or com-promise of special assessment certificates orbonds to preclude or relieve the county frombeing subjected to liability thereon ..

(3) SALE UNDER AGREEMENT In the event ofsuch agreement the county may sell any of theland to which .it takes tax deed pursuant thereto,and that the title conveyed by the county uponsuch sale shall be in fee simple and free and clearfromm all tax liens or claims arising out of

on the date the tax deed was taken, includingthe tax certificate on which the tax deed wastaken, and paidd to the owners of such taxcertificates and taxes . . Such proration shall bein the ratio that the net balance of'the proceedsof thee sale, after making the deductions autho-rized in sub . (7), bears to the redemption valueof such outstanding nonoutlawed municipallyowned taxes on the date the tax deed was taken,provided that in no case shall the payment tothe local municipality exceed such redemptionvalue: of its nonoutlawed outstanding taxes,except that for taxes of 1942 and subsequentyears referred to in ss .74 ..03 ('7) (d) and 74 .031(12) (e) the payment shall not exceed the origi-nal amount of such taxes ..

(9) MERGER; TRANSFER; REINSTATEMENT

When the lands are taken by tax deed :(a) The liens of all nonoutlawed municipally

owned tax certificates and taxes shall merge inthe county'ss title

(b) The county treasurer shall cancel on hisrecords all taxes which are not municipallyowned as are prior' in date to the date of the taxcertificate upon which tax deed was taken . Thecounty shall transfer to its tax deed account allmunicipally owned taxes so merged in thecounty's title . Such merger and transfer shall beentered in the records: of tax sales .

(c) If the county's title to the lands taken bytax deed is adjudged to be void while the title isheld by the county, the county shall reinstatesuch canceled or transferred taxes in full forceand effect the same as though never so canceledor transferred

(d) The provisions of" this subsection shall notrepeal or supersede the provisions of's, 75 67 .

(10) ACTIONS TO BAR FORMER OWNER; PART I ESDEFENDANT, It shall not be necessary for anycounty which has acquired lands by tax deed toinclude any municipalityy which has an owner-ship interest in any"taxes or tax sale certificates,as party defendant in any action brought bysuch county to bar former owners, pursuant toss . 75.40 to 75 ..52, . and no such municipalityshall be entitled to be made a party defendant insuchh action

(11) APPLICATION cAtrori of sECnoN . The foregoingprovisions shall not impair any contract hereto-fore or hereafter entered into pursuant to s :75,365, and shall apply to all settlements on andafter October 9, 1947 in respect to the sale ofland by a county to which the tax deed wastaken by the county without regard to the dateupon:n which the' tax deed was taken by suchcounty . .

History: 1983a . 189 .

75.365 Agreements ;as to delinquent taxes.(1) COUNTIES MAY ENTER Written agreements

2099 TAX SALES 75.365


75.37 Waste on land sold ; distress ; claimagainst county or city. . (1) It shall be unlawfulfor any person or corporation to cut, destroy orremovee any logs, wood or timber or any build-ings, fixtures and other improvements assessedas real property from any land sold for thenonpayment of taxes while such .taxes remainunpaid; and if any person shall cut, dest r oy orremove the same from such lands. during thetime aforesaid the county treasurer of thecounty or the city treasurer of any city which isauthorized ,by law to sell its own delinquenttaxes or assessments in which such lands aresituated;, in cases where the tax certificate is heldby the county or such city, shall issue a warrantunder his hand and seal to the sherif'f', givingtherein a description of'such lands, the amountof such taxes, with interest and charges thereonthen remaining unpaid and the years for whichthe same are unpaid, commanding such sheriff'forthwith to seize such logs, wood,, timber,buildings, fixtures and improvements, or mate-rials salvaged therefrom, wherever the samemay be found and to sell the same or a sufficientamount thereof to satisfy such taxes, with theinterest and charges thereon and the costs ofsuch seizure and sale :

(2) The sheriff shall receive such warrant andexecute the same as therein directed ;, as in caseof'levy and sale on execution, and make returnthereof' with his doings thereon to the countytreasurer or such city treasurer, as the case maybe, within 60 days after the receipt of the same,

75 .38 Fees ,for . deeds and certificates .. Thecounty clerk shall collect as fees for every deedof land issued upon a taxx sale, when such deedshall include lands in contiguous tracts notexceeding one hundred and sixty acres, seventy-five cents ; and for every additional tract thereindescribed, five cents, to be paid by the person towhom such deed is issued ; and the clerk issuingsuch deed shall include therein so many parcelsof land bid 'off, owned or redeemed by anyperson as he may desire .

75 .39 Action to bar former owner. Thegrantee named in any deed. made by a countyclerk or the treasurer of any incorporated city

75.365 TAX SALES

delinquent special assessments , delinquent gen-ecal t axes , or both , except delinquent specialassessments, delinquent or unpaid generaltaxes , or both , returned to the county after suchsale by the county . Such agreement may pro-vide that the county may sell any land , to whichit has taken tax deed thereunder ; at private orpublic sale .. The county or the local municipal-ity in which the land is situated may purchasesuch land when sold by the county pursuant tosuch agreement

(4) APPLICABILITY . This section shall be con-trolling and operative in respect to delinquentgeneral property taxes and special assessmentsauthorized by the proper governing body to beimposed against lands, whether heretofore orhereafter returned delinquent; and the provi-sions hereof ' shall be applicable to such assess-ments and taxes, the general statutes to thecontrary notwithstanding ,, but all provisions ofthe general statutes not in conflict herewithshall be applicable , except that it does not repealany _ of 'the, provisions ofthe general statutes noraffect the applicability thereof to situations notcovered herein .

2100

and pay ' over all money collected thereon tosuch treasurer; provided , however , that no cer-tificates shall be sold by the county treasurer orsuch city treasurer, in cases where warrantshave been issued, unless the party applying topurchase the same shall pay all costs andcharges incurred in the issuing and execution ofsaid war-rant In case the tax certificate is notheld by the county or such city the ownerthereof shall have a lien upon any and all logs,wood, timber, buildings, fixtures and improve-ments assessed as real property , or materialssalvaged Therefrom , so cut , destroyed or re-moved from the lands to the amount of the taxcertificate held by him ' against the same , to-gether with all interest and charges thereon thenremaining unpaid , and shall have the right toseize such logs, wood , timber , buildings , fix-tures and improvements , or materials salvagedtherefrom, wherever the same may be foundand to sell the same, or a sufficient amountthereof' to satisfy such taxes, with interest andcharges thereon and the cost of seizure and sale,rendering any surplus upon such sale to theowner of the lands No tax certificate holderwho shall so cut, destroy or "remove any logs,wood or timber, or any buildings , fixtures andother improvements assessed as real propertyupon any lands described in his certificate shallhave anyy claim against the county or such cityunder s ' 75 . 22 .

75 . 375 Waste on lands sold for taxes , pen -alty. Any person who shall wilfully, maliciouslyor wantonly injure, destroyy or commit wasteupon any lands, tenements, or, anything apper-taining thereto which have been sold for thenonpayment of taxes while suchh taxes remainunpaid or in cases where the tax certificate is theproperty of the county shall be punished by afine of"not more than $500, 4r by imprisonmentin the county jail not more than 90 days or byboth such fineand imprisonment,


stated therein , that the actionn thereon was notcommenced within the time limited by s, 75 . . 39 ;thatt the lands described in such complaint orsome part or parts thereof to which the defend-ant or defendants so answering claim title orsome interest therein were not liable to taxationat the time the tax for the nonpayment of whichthe land was sold and conveyed as specified inthe complaint was levied ; or that the tax for thenonpayment of which said lands purport to besold was in fact paid before such sale ; or that theland was redeemed from such sale as providedby law ; or that the title to said land has becomevested adversely to the plaintiff in the actionunder and by virtue of another tax deed ; or thatthe deed, a copy of which is set forth in thecomplaint, was never executed by the officerwhose name is subscribed thereto ; or that thelands described in the complaint or some partthereof' were improved, occupied or cultivatedas described in s , 7 .5 12 (1), and that no noticewas served upon the defendant or owner oroccupant , as required by s . 75 . 12 , and no otherdefense to such action shall be set up by anydefendant or defendants unless the defendant ordefendants setting up the same shall , at the timeof' filing the answer , deposit with the clerk of thecourt in which such action is pending , for theuse of the plaintiff in such action , the sum forwhich the parcel or parcels of land as to whichthey defend were sold, together with interestthereon at the rate of '8 per cent per year fromthe date of the certificate of sale for taxes uponwhich such deed was issued ; and also all suchsums as shall have been paid by the plaintiff forsubsequent taxes on such parcell or parcels , withinterest ther eon from the time of payment at therate of 8 per cent per year to the time of makingsuch deposit; and shall state in the answerr thefact that such deposit hass been made , and theamount thereof, and that such defendant isreadyy to pay such portion of the costs anddisbursements in the action as shall be adjudgedjust and reasonable, in case the plaintiff shallelect to receive such deposit and release to saiddefendant or defendants the parcel or parcels ofland on account of ' which such deposit is made;and any defendant or defendants making thedepos i t and offer aforesaid may set up in theiranswer any other matter of defense which willavoid such deed; but no answer merely allegingthe defendant' s title, or denying the plaintiff'stitle to the lands described in such complaint , or,any part or parcel thereof , or which merelyalleges that the deed to the plaintiff is void shallbe a sufficient answer; but every answer shallstate specifically the grounds on which thedefendant or defendants rely for avoiding thedeed of the plaintiff '.

75 .41 Complaint . The plaintiff' in such actionshall set forth in his complaint a description ofall, the lands the title to which is sought to bebarred by such action; that he claims title tosuch lands under a deed made by a county clerkor the treasurer of an incorporated city orvillage, and set forth therein a copy of suchdeed; he shall also set forth the name or namesof the former owner or owners of the severaltracts of'land described therein or the names ofthe persons claiming under such owner or own-ers, specifying the persons claiming each sepa-rate parcel thereof', and the amount of all taxespaid by him, including redemptions; and if'suchplaintiff" have moree than one such deed uponany parcel of'land mentioned in such complaint,upon which he might bring such action, he shallset focth in such complaint a copy of each suchdeed,: but as a separate cause of action ..

75 . 42 : Defense , answer. (1) The defendants insuch actionn may answer severally, or such ofthem as are jointly interested in any separateparcel or parcels of land described in the com-plaint mayy answer jointly, either to the wholecomplaint or to any .separate cause of action

2101

or village on the sale of lands for the nonpay-ment of taxes as provided by law, his heirs,executors, administrators or assigns may, atanyy time within three years after the date ofsuchh conveyance, commence an action againstthe person or persons owning the lands de-scribed in such conveyance at the time of mak-ing the sale upon which such conveyance wasmade, or any parcel thereof or interest therein,or against any person or persons claiming undersuch, owner or owners, for the purpose of 'bar-ring such former owner or owners and thoseclaiming under them of all right, title, interest orclaim in such lands; but no such action shall becommenced on any such deed issued in lieu of avoid, informal or insufficient deed unless thesame be commenced within three years after thedate of'such void, informal or insufficient deed . .

75 . 40 Action , where and how brought. Suchhaction must be brought in the circuit court ofthe county in which the lands or somee parcel ofthem, the title of which is sought to be barred bysuch action, are situated ; . and the plaintiff insuch action may include in his complaint all thelands described in such conveyance, or anyseparate parcel, or as many separate parcelsthereof' as he shall see fit ; and he shall makedefendants all persons who were the formerowners of the several parcels of land included inhis complaint or those claiming under them orclaiming any interest therein .

TAX SALES 75.42


75 .45 Deed as evidence . In any action main-tained under the provisions of this chapter theproduction of a deed, a copy of which is set

75 .50 Unknown owners.. If the plaintiff insuch action cannot ascertain who are the proper

75 .42 TAX SALES

(2) The defendant may, in all cases within thetime limited by law for answering the com-plaint, execute and deliver to the plaintiff or hisattorney a quitclaim deed of'the lands describedin the complaint, conveying all the right, titleand interest of such defendant at the time of thecommencement of the suit ; or may, within suchtime, either after having delivered such deed orwithout such delivery, answer disclaiming anytitle to the land in question at the time of thecommencement of the suit, in either of whichcases the plaintiff shall not recover costs person-ally against any such defendant who quitclaimsas aforesaid or who shall establish such dis-claimer upon the trial of such action . In no caseshall costs be taxed as a personal claim againstany defendant for attorney's fees in excess oftwenty-five dollars .

Hi story: 1 979 c. 110 s 60 (13)

75.43 Election toreceive deposit ; costs. Theplaintiff' may, at any time within twenty daysafter receiving an answer showing that a deposithas been made by any defendant or defendantsas provided in s 75 .42, give notice to suchdefendant or defendants that he elects to receivesuch deposit and that he will, at a time specifiedin such notice, apply to the clerk of the circuitcourt, circuit judge or a courtt commissioner toadjust the costs and disbursements which saiddefendant or defendants ought to pay, and thatupon the payment of the costs' and disburse-ments'so adjudged he will release to such de-fendant or defendants all right, title and claimwhich he has to the parcel or parcels of land onaccount of which such deposit is made by virtueof any sale or deed made for the nonpayment oftaxes ; and unless such costs are paid withintwenty days after the same shall have been soadjusted the clerk of the court shall, uponpresentation to him of an affidavit showing thenonpayment thereof', enter judgment therefor infavor of the plaintiff and against the defendant,which shall be enforced as other moneyjudgments ;

75.44 Release. On the payment of the costsby such defendant or defendants o r the collec-tion thereof the said plaintiff shall execute arelease to said defendant or defendants of allsuch right , title , interest or claim in said parcelor parcels of lands, duly acknowledging thesame , and deliver it to the said defendant ordefendants; and thereupon said action shall bediscontinued as to the said parcel or parcels ofland so released . .

2102

forth in the complaint substantially in the formprescribed by law or a certified copy of therecord thereof, shall be presumptive evidence ofan absolute title in fee simple in the granteetherein named, his heirs or assigns in and to theland therein described.

75 . 46 Trial ; defendant ' s interest . All issues offact and of'law joined in any such action shall betried by the court unless the court shall other-wise direct or unless a party to an issue of'fact inany such action shall demand a trial by jury, inwhich case such issues shall be tried by jury asother issues of fact; and on the trial of everysuch action every defendant shall be deemed tohave a redeemable interest in all the landsdescribed in the plaintiff's complaint in respectto which any relief' or judgment is soughtagainst such defendant, unless it be otherwisealleged therein . .

75 .47 Separate trials . The trial of'any issue offact or of law in such action joined with anydefendant or defendants claiming title to anddefending as to any separate parcel or parcels ofland shall be had separately and a separatejudgment may be tendered on such issue

75 . 48 Effect of judgment . If a judgment shallbe rendered either for want of an answer orupon the trial of an issue of law or fact in favorof the plaintif'f' and against the defendantsclaiming such lands or against a defendant ordefendants claiming any separate parcel or par-cels thereof, such judgment shall forever' barsuch defendants and all others claiming underthem, after the filing of'a notice of the pendencyof such action as provided by law, from allright; title or interest in said lands or in suchseparate parcel or parcels thereof' .

75 . 49 Judgment for defendant . If in any suchaction judgment be rendered in favor of anydefendant claiming any parcel or parcelss of saidlands or interest therein, such judgment shalladjudge that there be released to such defendantall the plaintiff's right, title or claim, at the timeof the commencement of the action, by virtue ofany sale or deed made for the nonpayment oftaxes to the land or interest as to which suchjudgment is rendered, andd that the defendantrecover his costs and disbursements in the ac-tion; and the money, if any, deposited by suchdefendant upon answering shall be applied inpayment of'such costs, and the surplus of suchdeposit, if any, shall be paid to the plaintiff.


persons. to make defendants as to any tract orparcel of land described in his complaint he mayallege the fact in his complaint and they may beproceeded against as nonresident defendantsand shall be described in the proceedings asunknown owners . .

75 .52 Judgment a bar, when. No such actionshall be commencedd by anyy person under theprovisionss of this chapter after a judgment shallhave been rendered against him in any actionfounded on such tax deed commenced by himor those under whom he claims for the recoveryof the possession of the lands described in suchdeed or any part thereof', nor after a judgmentshall have been rendered against him in anaction brought by the former owner to recoverpossession of'the lands described in such deedor any part thereof'.

75 . 521 Foreclosure of tax liens by action inrein . (1) DEFitvirioNS, Wherever used or 're-ferxed to in this section, unless a different mean-ing ;clearly appears from the context :

(a) "County" means one of the counties ofthe state of Wisconsin and includes any city ofthe state' authorized by law to collect and sell itsown taxes .

(b) "Tax lien" means the lien or interestevidenced by any county owned or held tax salecertificate upon which a tax deed may be ap-plied for as provided by law,

(c) "Treasurer" means either the treasurer ofsuch county or of such city..

(2) APPLICATION OF THIS SECTION. (a) Adop-tion of method. . Notwithstanding the provi-sions of any other general, special or, local lawor charter provision of such city relating toforeclosure of tax sale certificates, taking of taxdeeds upon such tax sale certificates, andperfecting such tax deed title by bar formerowner action or quiet title action, or convey-ance from former owners of any interest in saidlands, the governing body of any county mayelect to enforce the collection of tax liens, thetaking of tax title in the name of such county totax delinquent lands and the perfecting of'suehtax title in the county in the cases where thissection applies by means of the methods pro-vided`f'or in this section . Such election shall beevidenced by an ordinance" to such effect insubstantially the following form :'"ORDINANCE ELECTING TO PROCEEDUNDER SECTION 75 521 Wis, Stats . IN

RELATION TO THE ENFORCEMENT OFCOLLECTION OF TAX LIENS .

The county board of supervisors of thecounty of ,. do ordain as follows :

From and after , . . (here insert dates) the(here insert name of 'county) elects to adopt theprovisions of section 75 . 521 Wis . Statss for thepurpose of enforcing tax liens in such county inthe cases where the procedure provided by suchsection is applicable "

Upon the adoption of such ordinance, theprovisions of' this section shall be applicable tosuch county and the treasurer of such countyneed not, thereafter, proceed upon its tax salecertificates in cases where this section is applica-ble in any of the other methods provided by ch .75 or its charter provisions but may do so at hisoption ..

(b) Rescission of election to operate undersection 75 . .521 . . Any county, after at least oneyear fr om the adoption of ' such ordinance , mayrescind such election by an ordinance to sucheffect, which ordinance shall be adopted in thesame manner as the original ordinance . Uponthe adoption of a rescinding ordinance , theprovisions of this section shall cease to beapplicable to such county ..

(c) Saving clause . Neither the election toadopts 75 .521 nor the election to rescind thesame shall affect any action or proceeding forforeclosure of the tax lien commenced prior tosuch election or rescission and such action orproceeding may be continued in the same man-ner as though such election or rescission hadnot been made . .

(d) Provisions of 'in rein method supersede . .Whenever any county shall have adopted thissection and is using the procedure herein pro-vided, the provisions .of this section shall, withrespect to the particular tax liens being col-lected, supersede the provisions of all general ,special or local laws relating to the collection oftax liens by such county i n conflict therewith,provided that nothing contained in this subsec-tion nor any use made of the procedure pro-vided in this section shall prevent the use ofother procedures provided for in other sectionsof the statutes in the collection of other tax liensat the option of the county treasurer .

(3 ) COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEEDING TO FORE-CLOSE TAX LIEN . (a) Whenever' any land hasbeen sold to the county for delinquent taxes thetreasurer may file in the office of the clerk of thecircuit court of' the county , one or, more lists ofparcels of ' property affected by unpaid tax liensas shown' on the delinquent tax tolls in thetreasurer 's office . The treasurer may file the listwhen any of the following time periods elapsesafter the date of' the tax sale certificate :

1 . One year, if ' razing costs incurred by anycity or village are included in the amount duefor taxes .

2103 TAX SALES 75 .521


posted in his office .. The filing of such list of taxliens in the office of ' the clerk of the circuit courtshall constitute and have the same effect as thefiling and recording in the office of the registerof deeds of' such county of a separate andindividual notice of the pendenc y of such pro-ceeding as to each parcel described in such list ,and likewise , not withstanding an y other provi-sion of law ; shall constitute the commencementof a special proceeding by the county againsteach parcel of real estate therein described andhave the same effect as the filing of an individ=ual and separate petition or complaint by thecounty against each parcel of real estate thereindescribed to enforce the payment of ' the tax liensagainst such property .

(c) A copy of' the petition and so much of ' thelist of ' tax liens as shall include the description ofa particular parcel shall be mailedd by registeredor certified mail , return receipt requested , bythe county treasurer to the last-known post-office address of each owner and mortgagee ofrecord, the state of Wisconsin in the instancesspecified in par . (am) 2, and to each municipal-it y, other _ than the municipal ta king districtforeclosing, having any right , title or interest inthe land or in the tax liens or the proceedsthereof'. . An affidavit of the treasurer settingforth the names of the owners , mortg agees , thestate of Wisconsin in the proper case and mu-nicipalities for whom a post-office address hasbeen ascertained , giving the addresses and'stat-ing that notice was mailed, giving the date ofmailing , and stating that no present post-officeaddress was ascertainable for the other ownersand mortgagees , shall be filed and constitutefull compliance with this paragraph

(3m) EXTENDED TIME FOR FORECLOSING TAX

LIENS , (a) In this subsection :1 , "Dwell ing" means any building that con-

tains one or 2 dwellingg units and any landincluded with that building in the same entry onthe tax roll .

2 . " Dwelling unit " means a structure or thatpart of a structure used as a ,home ; residence orsleeping place byone person or by 2 or morepersons maintaining a ,common household , tothe exclusion of all others .

(b) The common council of any city, autho-czed by lawto collect and sell its own taxes mayby ordinance direct its treasurer to defer theforeclosure of tax liens on dwellings . Theordinance shall designate the peri od of time thatthe foreclosure of tax liens shall be deferredafter the one-year period provided under sub . .(3) , (a) 1 to 3 . The deferral period may notexceed 2 years . Thedeferral shall appl y to thosedelinquent taxes and assessments incurredwhile the dwelling was owned and occupied bythe person who owns and occupies the building

2 One year , if the tax sale certificate is heldby any city authorized by law to collect and sellits own taxes .

3 One year, if the tax sale certificate is heldby any county and the certificate applies toproperty located in a city authorized by law tocollect andd sell its own taxes . .

4. Three ,years, if none of the conditionsspecified in subds . 1 to 3 applies . .

(am) The parcels shall be numbered consecu-tively in the list prepared under par (a) The listshall be knownn as the "List of Tax Liens ofCounty Being Foreclosed by Proceeding inRem 19 ., No . . . . " and shall bear the followingcaption :'STATE OF WISCONSIN

CIRCUIT COURT

,, COUNTY

In the matter of the foreclosure of tax liensunder section ' 75 .. 521 Wisconsin Statutes byCounty, List of Tax Liens for 19. Number . " .The list shall contain as to each parcel , thefollowing :

1 . A brief ' description sufficient to identifyeach parcel affected , by such tax l ien .. Thedescription shall state the lot , block and sectionnumber of any parcel upon any tract , t he plat ormap of which is filed in the office of the registerof " deeds of' such county If the lands be unplat-ted an engineer's metes and bounds d escriptionshall be a sufficient description

2 . The name or names of the last owner orowners, and mortgagee or mortgagees of suchparcel as such ownership or mortgage interestappears of record in the office of the r egister ofdeeds of the county wherein such parcel issituated, and the state of Wisconsin where it hasa determined but unpaid inheritance tax lien , afiled, nonoutlawed income taxx war rant or adocketed judgment, all in the county where suchparcel is situated ..

3 , A statement of ' the amount of the principalsumm of each tax lien in the hands of the countytreasurer , togetherwith the date from whichand the rate at which interest shall be computedon said principal sum .

4 . A petition to the court for judgment vest-ing title to each of said parcels of land in thecounty, as of the date of entry of',j udgment andbarn gng anyy andd all claims whatsoever of theformer owner or any person claiming throughand under himm since the date of filing the list oftax liens in the office of the clerk of the circuitroux t .

5 The names of ' all municipalities, other thanthe municipal taxing district foreclosing, havingany right , title or interest in the land or in thetax liens or in the proceeds thereof '.

(b) Such list of tax liens shall be ve rified bythe affidavit of the county treasurer and shall be

75.521 TAX SALES 2104


at the beginning of the deferral period .. If' theowner ceases to occupy the dwelling during thedeferral period, the city treasurer shall foreclosethe tax lien on the dwelling as soon as practica-ble A city adopting an ordinance under thissubsection may require the dwelling owner tosubmit proof' that the owner is eligible for adeferral under this subsection .

(4) DUTY OF THE C L ERK OF CIRCUIT COURT .Each clerk of the circuit court with whom thelist of"tax liens is filed shall index it by year andlist number, and alphabetically by the names ofthose set forth in the list, under sub. (3) (am) 2,in a separatee record kept for that purpose andthe clerk shall be entitled to a fee of $3 forreceiving, filing and indexing of each such list,in lieu of any other fees to which he or she mightotherwise be entitled for those services Thecircuit court of'the county in which the delin-quent list is filed has ;jurisdiction of the proceed-ing authorized by this section .

(5 ) RIGHTS OF PERSONS HAVING AN INTEREST INPARCELS OF LAND AFFECTED BY TAX LIENS Everyperson, including any municipal taxing districtother than the one foreclosing, having anyright, title or interest in, or lien upon, any parceldescribed in such list may redeem such parcel bypaying all of the sums mentioned in such list oftax liens together with interestt thereon, or suchportion thereof' as is due for the interest thereinor part thereof owned by such.h person whichamountt shall be determined by the county trea-surer on application ; before the expiration ofthe 'redemption period mentioned in the noticepublished pursuant to sub. (6), or may serve averified answer upon the county treasurer ofsuch county, as provided in sub . (7). Thecaption of such answer shall contain a referenceto the number or numbers of the parcels con-cerned as shown by the treasurer's list, Suchanswer must be served on said county treasurerand filed in the office of the clerk of the circuitcourt within 30 days after the date mentioned inthe notice published pursuant to sub . (6), as thelast day for redemption In the event of thefailure to redeem or answer by any personhaving the right to redeem or answer within thetime herein limited, such person, and all personsclaiming under and through him, from and afterthe date of'the filing of said list of tax liens withthe clerk of the circuit court, Shall be foreverbarred and foreclosed of all his right, title andinterest in and to the parcel described in such listof tax liens and a judgment in foreclosure maybe taken as herein provided : Upon redemptionas permitted by this section, the person redeem-ing shall be entitled to a certificate evidencingsuch redemption from the county treasurer ofsuch county, describing the property in thesame manner as it is described in such list of'tax

liens and the fact of such redemption shall benoted upon the tax rolls in the office of thecounty treasurer, who shall file a certified copyof ' such redemption certificate with the clerk ofthe circuit court and upon such filing, such clerkshall note the word "Redeemed" and the date ofsuch filing opposite the description of saidparcel on such list of tax liens . Such notationshall operate to cancel the notice of pendency ofproceeding with respect to such parcel or suchportion thereof '. The person so redeeming shallbe entitled to add the amount paid in redemp-tion to .the face amount of' any lien which hemay have against said lands and to have interestther eon until paid ..

(6) PUBLIC NOTICE OF IN REM PROCEEDING . .Upon the filing of' such list in the office of theclerk of the circuit court, the county treasurerforthwith shall p repare a notice th a t s uch lis t o ftax liens and petition has been so filed and acopy thereof' posted in the office of said countytreasurer The treasurer shall cause such notice,together with the list of tax liens and petition , tobe published as a class 3 notice,, under ch . 985 ..Such notice s hall be in sub s tantially the fo llow-ing form :NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF

PROCEEDINGIN . REM TO FORECLOSE TAX LIENS

BY. . . . COUNTY(Here insert list of tax liens and petition as

filed in office of clerk of ' the circui t court . . )TAKE NOTICE That all persons having or

claiming to have any right, title or interest in orlien upon the real property described in the listo f t ax liens, No . . , on file in the offi ce of theclerk of' the circuit court of . . . . county, dated _ . ,and hereinabove set forth , are hereby notifiedthat the filing of such list of tax liens in the officeof the clerk of the circuit court of ., countyconstitutes the commencement by saidcounty of a special proceeding in the circuitcourt for : ; county to foreclose the tax lienstherein described by foreclosure proceeding inrem and that a notice of the pendency of suchproceeding again s t e ach p i ece or parce l of landth e r ein described wa s filed in the offic e of th eclerk of the circuit roust on (inse rtt date) ..Such proceeding is brought against the reallproperty herein d escribed only and is to fore -close the tax liens described in such list ., Nopersonal judgment will be entered herein forsuch taxes, assessments or other legal charges orany partt thereof.,

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE That all per son s hav-ing or claiming to have any eight, title or, inter estin or lien upon the real property described insaid list of tax liens are hereby notified that acertified copy of such list of tax liens has beenposted in the office of the county treasurer of ' .. .. . .

2105 TAX SALES 75.521


treasurer of such county, the courtt in whichsuch list of tax liens is filed , shall render finaljudgment ordering and adjudging that thecounty is vested with an estate in fee simpleabsolute in such lands, subject , however, to allunpaid taxes and charges which are subsequentto the latest dated valid tax lien appearing onthe list specified in sub . (3) (b) and to recordedrestrictions as provided by s . 75 . 14 (4) and allpersons; both natural and artificial , includingthe state of Wisconsin, infants, incompetents ,absentees and nonresidents who may have hadany right , title, interest, claim , lien or equity ofredemption in such lands , are forever barredand foreclosed of such right , title, interest,claim ,, lien or equity of redemption . Suchjudgment shall be deemed to be based on thelatest dated valid tax lien appearing on the listof tax liens ; No personal judgment shall beentered , against any person having or claimingto have any right, title or interest in or lien uponsaid lands Such judgment : shall have the effectof the issuance of 'a tax deed or deeds and ofjudgment to bar former owners and quiet titlethereon,

(9) FILING OF AFFIDAVIT . All affidavits of'filing , publication , posting , mailing , or otheracts required by this section, shall be made bythe person performing such acts and shall befiled in the office of the clerk of the circuit courtof the county in which : the property subject tosuch tax lien is situated and shall, together withall other documents required in this section ,filed in such office , constitute and become partof the judgment roll in such foreclosureproceeding ,

(10) CONTESTED ISSUES AND TRIAL, THEREOF .. I f

a duly verified answer is served upon the countytreasurer within the period mentioned in sub . .(7), the court shall hear and determine the issuesraised by the petition and answer in the samemanner and under the same rules as it hears anddetermines civil actions, except as in this sectionotherwise provided .. Upon such trial , proof thatsuch tax or speciall assessment , together withany interest or penaltywhich may have beenduee was paid, or that the property was notsubject to tax or special assessment , or that suchtax lien is barred by the statute of limitations ,shall constitute a complete defense . Wheneveran answer : is interposed as herein provided,there shall be a severance of the proceeding as toany parcel or parcels o£ land in which suchanswering defendant has any , right, title orinterest as alleged in his answer, and as to theother parcels in such list , the proceeding shallproceed as, provided in sub . . (8),.

(11) PREFERENCE OVER' OTHER . PROCEEDINGS

AND ACTIONS . Any proceeding brought pursu-

county and will remain, posted for public inspec-tion up to and including (here insert date atleast 8 weeks from the date: of'the first publica-tion of'this notice) which date is hereby fixed asthe last dayy for redemption .

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE That any person hav-ing or claiming to have any right, title or interestin or lien upon any such parcel may, on orbefore said : . ., (insert redemption final date),redeem such delinquent tax liens by paying tothe county treasurer of . . ., county, the amountof all such unpaid tax liens and in additionthereto, all interest and penalties which haveaccrued on said unpaid tax liens, computed toand including the date of redemption .

. . . CountyBy

County Treasurer( 7) RIGHT OF PERSON HAV ING AN INTEREST IN

OR LI EN UPON PARCELS DESCRIBED IN LIST OF TAXLIENS, TO ANSWER PETITION (a) Every personhaving any right ; title or interest in or lienn uponany parcel described in such list of tax liens,may serve a duly verified answer upon thecounty treasurer for such county, setting forthin detail, the nature and amount of his interestand objecting to the proposed foreclosure uponone or more of :the following grounds only :

1 .' That the lands in which such person isinterested, described in such list of tax liens,were not liable to taxation or special assessmentat the time the tax or special assessment for thenonpayment of which the tax lien arises, waslevied .

2. That the tax, for the nonpayment of whichsaid tax lien arises, was in fact paid before thelast day of the redemption period provided bylaw .. _

3. That the tax lien is barred by the statute oflimitations .

(b) No other defense to the petition of saidcounty set forth in such tax list, shall be set up,Such answer must be filed in the office of theclerk of" the circuit court and served upon thecounty treasurer of such county within 30 daysafter the date hexeinabove mentioned, as thelast date for redemption .- (8) DUTY OF THE COURT TO ENTER JUDGMENT

IN 'DEFAULT CASES . . In the event of'the failure toredeem or answer by any person having theright to redeem or answer- as hereinabove pro=vided, such person and all persons claimingunder and through him, from and after the dateof the filing of the list of tax liens in the office ofthe clerk of the circuit court of'the county, shallbe forever barred and foreclosed of'all his right,titleand interest and equity of redemption inand to the parcel described in such list of the taxliens, and upon filing of an affidavit of suchdefault or failure of redemption by the county

75.521 TAX SALES 2 1 06


ant to this section shall be given preference overall other causesand actionsnot on trial and nosuch proceeding shall be referred,

( 12 ) PRESUMPT IONS OF VALID ITY; GUARDIANAD L:iiEM (a) The county need not plead orprove the various steps, proceedings and noticesfor' the assessment and levy of the taxes, assess-ments orr other lawful charges against the landsset forth in the list of tax liens and all such taxes,assessments or other lawful charges and the lienthereof'shall be presumed to be valid ., A def'end-ant alleging ,any jurisdictional defect or invalid-ity in the tax or special assessment, because ofwhichh said land was not liable to taxation orspecial assessment, must particularly specify inhis' answer such jurisdictional defect or invalid-ity and must affirmatively establish suchdefense ..

(b) This section shall apply to and be validand effective with respect to all defendants eventhough one'ormore be infants, incompetents,absentees or nonresidents of the state of Wis-consin, provided that a guardian ad litem shallbe appointed to serve for all persons known orunknown who have or may have an interest inthe lands described in any list and who are ormay, ber.minors or incompetents at the date offiling such list . Such guardian ad litem may beappointed by the court without notice, and thefee for his services as fixed by the court shall bepaid by the county .:

(13) JUDGMENT, CONTENTS (a) Where, as toany parcel in the list of'tax liens, an answer hasbeen interposed by -a party and the court shalldetermine in favor of such party upon suchanswer, the court shall make "a final judgmentdivesting said parcel of the lien alleged to haveaccrued against same .

(b) In the event, that the Court shall deter-minethat the issue raised by the answer of the defend-ant is without merit, a final judgment to sucheffect shall be entered ordering and adjudgingthat the county is vested with an estate in feesimple absolute in such lands subject, however,to all unpaid taxes and charges which ate subse-quent to the latest dated tax lien appearing onthe list specified in sub . (3) (b) and'to recordedrestrictions as provided by s ` 75 .14, and allpersons, both natural and artificial, includingthe state of Wisconsin ; infants, incompetents,absentees and nonresidents who . may have hadany right, title, interest ; claim, lien or equity ofredemption in such lands, are forever barredand foreclosed of such right, title, interest,claim; lien or equity of redemption . Suchjudgment shall be deemed to be based on thelatest dated tax lien appearing on the list of'taxliens . Such judgmentshall have the effect of'theissuance of'a tax deed or deeds and of'judgmentto 'bar former owners and quiet title thereon

( 14) JUDGMENT I'O BE RECORDED . . A certifiedcopy of the judgment of the court in bothdefault and contested cases shall be recorded bythe prevailing party in the office of the registerof deeds of such county .

(14a) DAMAGES . Anyy person who was theowner of any right , title or interest in land whichwas lost by ,judgment of foreclosure as providedin this section may within 2 years from the dateof ' entiy of such judgment , in the cases hereinaf-ter mentioned other than fraud and within 6years in the case of fraud, commence an actionin the circuit court against the county to recover-the fairmarket value of his inter'est therein atthe date of entry of ' said judgment of' foteclosucein rem If ' the court determines that suchperson's right , title and interest in said land wasunjustly foreclosed and lost because (a) saidperson ' s interest in such lands was not subjectto taxation or special assessment at the time ofthe levy of' the tax for nonpayment of which saidlands were foreclosed, or (b) that in fact suchtax was paid by sa id owner, or ( c) that the taxlien upon which the judgment of foreclosure inrem was -based was barred by the statute oflimitations, or (d) if such person lost said prop-er ty through fr aud without fault on his part, thecourt shall determine the fair ' market value ofsaid land oc of said person's interest therein ashexeinabove set forth . . The fair market valueshall not exceed the amount arrived at by divid-ing -the assessed valuation of such lands in theyear in which such judgment in rem was enteredby . the percentage ratio of real estate assess-ments prevailing for the taxing district in whichthe lands were located As set forth in the equali-zation for state tax purposes of the same year ..The court shall award judgment to such plain-tiff in such amount , together with a reasonablea ttorney's fees to be fix ed by the court, a nd theplaintiff' s costs and disbursements of such ac-tion . The amount awarded the plaintiff shall bereduced by the total amount due, as of ' the dateof`entry of such judgment, for all current taxesand upon all tax - sales certificates held by thecounty on such date that the court shall findwore -valid Upon payment of the judgment thecounty may charge back as a tax to any taxingdistrict the amount which such district receivedfrom the county in payment of taxes and inter-est on said land either by distribution of pro-ceeds of sale thereof' by the county or throughoYhe i payment by the county to the extent thatit exceeds the amount distributable to such

; district ' had the same been ' based upon - thepayment of the taxes and interest found by thecourt to be properly payable at the time of theentry of the judgment of foreclosure and ap-plied in reduction of the amount awarded to theplaintiff hereunder. '

2107 TAXSALES 75.521


,justly chargeable against any and every otherperson or corporation and every other lot,parcel or tract of land in such tax roll for suchyear in any legal proceeding that may ariserespecting the same . . Such reassessment and taxroll shall be completed and filed with the clerkof the municipality constituting such assess-ment district or in which such district is locatedwithin ninety days from the date of the entry ofsuch order unless the court upon motion andcause shown shall extend the time therefor ,

(3) Upon such completion and filing, noticethereof shall be given by such clerk to the clerkof the court in which such action is pending ; andsuch last-mentioned clerk shall thereupon givenotice thereof to the attorneys for the parties tosuch action and to the attorneys in all otheractions pending in which the validity of suchoriginal assessment may be involved . If anyparty seeking to set aside or avoid the originalassessment, tax or tax proceeding shall desire tocontest the validity of such reassessment , heshall , within twenty days after notice of thecompletion and filing of such reassessment andtax roll, file with the clerk of the court wheresuch action is pending objections in writing tosuch reassessment or tax roll , a copy of whichobjections shall within five days after suchfiling, be served upon the attorneyy for theopposite partyy and thereupon the court maydirect an issue to be made up involving theobjections aforesaid, which shall be tried sum-marily by the court, which shall make an ordersustaining or overruling such objections . If' bysuch order such reassessment or tax roll shall beheld invalid subsequent reassessments of suchtax may be had in manner and form as hereinbe-fore provided and similar proceedings may beresorted to, to determine the validity of anysuch reassessment; or the court in itss discretionmay upon sustaining objections made to anyreassessment, determ ine and fix the amount oftax which ought justly to be paid by the party orparties contesting such original assessment , taxor, tax proceeding, and for that purpose, with orwithout directing a further issue to be made up,the court may proceed to take such furtherevidence as may be necessary to make suchdetermination.

(4) If such reassessment and tax roll be heldby thecourt regular and valid or if 'no objectionsthereto shall be filed, the court shall make anorder requiring the party or partiess contestingthe original assessment, tax or tax proceeding topay into court, for the use and benefit of theparty entitled thereto the amount which by suchreassessment he or they ,justly ought to pay .. Ifthe amount of tax imposed upon the property ofsuch contesting party by such valid reassess-ment, or by the subsequent determination and

(15) EFFECTIVE DATE . This se cti on shall b e -come effective April 1, 1948 ..

(16) RETROACTIVE After the grace peri odallowed by thee effective date of this section asprovided by sub _ (15), this section shall beretroactive to include all tax sale certificates notoutlawed by the statute of limitations, and therights of any minor, incompetent or nonresi-dent in any tax sale cer tifica t e o f date pr ior toApril 1, 1948 shall be governed by the provi-sions hereof:

History : 1977 c . 174 ; 1979 c . 34, 89 ; 1983 a . 52, 192, 302,538 .

Partially valid judgments under this section are not per-missible. In Matter of Foreclosure of Tax Liens, 106 W (2d)244, 3 1 6 NW (2d) 362 (1982)..

Judgment under this section extinguishes all rights, titlesand interests in foreclosed property, including claim based onadverse possession . Published notice was sufficient .L ,eciejewski v Sedlak, 116 W (2d) 629, 342 NW (2d) 734

See note to ' 15 14, citing 62 Atty Gen 234 . .

75.54 . Reassessment of taxes by order ofcourt . (1) In all :actions in any court of this state,in which either partyy seeks to avoid or set asidein whole or in partt any assessment, tax or taxproceeding or reassessment, if the court is of theopinion, after a hearing.g had, that, for anyreason affectingg the groundworkk of thee tax andall the property in any assessment district, saidassessment, tax or tax proceeding should be setaside , the court shall immediately stay all pro-ceedings in such action and in , all other actionsaffecting thee assessment, tax or tax proceedingin such district until a reassessment of theproperty therein cann be made; and the properofficers of the municipality constituting theassessment district or in which the district islocatedd shall reassess such property in the man-ner specified in the statutes, and shall levy uponthe same .e the amount of taxes for the year inquestion .. Such reassessment shall be made bythe assess o r of the municipality or asses smentdistrict or by the person the court appoints andthe assessment roll shall be submitted to andpassed,d upon by the board of" review in themanner and after like noticee as in case - of theoriginal assessment.

( 2) Upon the completion of the review by saidboard, the clerk, of the town, village or city inwhich the reassessed district is situated shallextend upon such assessment roll the taxeslawfully levied upon and apportioned to theproperty describedd therein for suchh year , andsuch roll and tax so extended thereon shall be a

:public record and be prima facie evidence of theamount of tax justly chargeable against theparty seeking to - set aside or avoid the originalassessment, tax or tax proceeding and upon thelot or lots, tract or tracts of land respectingwhich the said action is brought, and shall alsobe prima facie evidence of the amount of tax

75.521 TAX SALES 2108Electronically scanned images of the published statutes.

order of the court, shall equal or exceed- theamount imposed thereon by the original assess-ment and tax roll, the party or parties con-testing the validity of such assessment shall beadjudged to pay the costs of such suit ; other-wise, upon complying with the order of thecourt last aforesaid, he or they shall be entitledto;judgment with costs; provided, however, thatno judgment rendered in any such action shallin any way affect the validity of any tax againstany other person than the parties to such actionor, any tract or parcel of land or other propertythan that described in complaint therein ..

(5) The value of the reassessed property shallbe fixed, as nearly as may be, as of the day theoriginal assessment was made, and the rules fordetermining the same shall be those provided bylaw . A like stay of proceedings and reassess-ment shall be ordered in all cases in which a taxwhich has been reassessed by anyy county, townor village board, or common council for one ormore years shall be adjudged uncollectible orvoid for any reason affecting the groundwork ofthe tax so as to require a reassessment in orderto determine the amount properly due .. Whensuch reassessed tax shall have been levied indifferent years it shall not be necessary to makeseparate assessment rolls for each year ; but thevaluations for each year respectively, may beplaced opposite the description of the propertyon the assessment roll in columns headed withthe figures of the year, so that the valuations foreachh year of'xeassessments shall be kept distinctfrom other years entered upon the tax roll . Allthe provisions of this section shall apply to themaking and completion and to objections andfurther proceedings in respect to . such assess-ment, and the same shall be treated with respectto each year which it purports to embrace as if itwere a separate reassessment roll for that year .This section shall apply to all actions whetherdetermined upon default or otherwise .

(6) If'howevec, in any such action now pend-ing or which may be begun hereafter the evi-dence enables the court to determine, withreasonable certainty, the amount of taxes whichwere justly chargeable against the lands in-volved in the action, the court, in its discretion,may proceed to ,judgment without staying pro-ceedings or ordering a reassessment, if' it findsthat it is for the best interests of all parties to theaction that it should do so ..

Where initial assessment was unchallenged but annualpercentage increases were voided, '-groundwork" of tax wasunaffected under (I) State ex rel Kaskin v Board of Re-view, 91 W (2d) 272, 282 NW (2d) 620 (Ct, App 19'79) :

Trial court may determine taxes under either 74 .74 or75 54. Judicial determination of taxes is not unconstitutional''`levy", Fontana v . Village of Fontana-on-Geneva Lake, 107W (2d) 226, 319 NW (2d) 900 (Ct App 1982); off d 111 W(2d) 215, 330 NW (2 d) 211 ' ( 1-983) .

75 .6 1 Tax sales. (1) ONE-YEAR LIMITAT16NEvery " action enumerated in ss. 75 .. 5 ''7, 1955stats. ; and 66 . . 635. and every action or proceed-ing to set aside any sale of ' lands for the nonpay-ment oftaxes or, to cancel any tax certificate, orto restrain the issuing of any tax certificate, ortax deed, for any error or defect going to thevalidity of the assessment ,, and affecting thegroundwork of such tax , or on account of anyvoid or defectivee special assessment ,, shall becommenced within. one year from thee date ofsuch tax sale, and not thereafter . In everyaction brought to set aside any such sale , or tocancel any tax certificate , or to restrain theissuing ,, of any tax deed upon any groundwhatever not going to the validity of' the assess-ment and affecting the groundwork of such taxor special assessment, the , plaintiff , if he or sheshows himself ' or herself ' otherwise entitled tojudgment , shall , before the entry thereof ' withina reasonable time .e to be fixedd by the court, payinto the court for the person or persons claim-ing under such tax sale or tax certificate theamount for which such land was sold , and .theamount paid by such person : or persons fortaxes levied upon the premises subsequent tosuch sale, with interest on all such amounts atthe rate of 8% per year from the times ofpayment until the money is paid i nto court ; andin default of such payment within the time sofixed the defendant shall have judgment in theaction . . This provision as to the payment into

2 109 TAX SALES 75.61

Court erred in ordering area reassessment without hold-ing h earing under (1) . State ex rel Hemkei v. H uggett, 114W (2d) 320, 338 NW (2d) 335 (Ct App 1 983)

75 . 55 Application of section 75 .54. Section75,54 shall be constxued .to permit the reassess-ment, by or underr the direction or authority ofany city, of thee property, real and personal,therein, which city, before and until the passageof these statutes, was authorized by law to makeits,own tax sales, tax certificates and tax deedsby its own proper ofYicers . And in and for andin respect to every such city and the property,real and personal, therein the mayor and coun-cil thereof, the assessors thereof', the city clerkthereof', the board of equalization thereof, andthe city treasurer thereof shall, as to any suchcity and the wards therein, respectively exerciseall the powers and perform all the duties andproceed in the manner hereinbefore provided inrespect to towns, villages, and other cities, andexercise the powers and perform the dutiesdevolved upon the board of supervisors, uponthe assessors, upon the town clerk, upon theboard of review and upon the town treasurer,respectively, for the reassessment of taxes andthe collection thereof'..


to have paid upon the lands involved in saidaction or special proceeding . .

(3 ) JUDGMENT, The plaintiff in such action orspecial proceeding shall be entitled to recoverjudgment for the amount, if any, he so paid inexcess of the amount the court shall finallydetermine he ought to have paid on the landsinvolved in said action or proceeding, withinterest from the date of'such payment .

(4) PAYMENT OF JUDGMENT . Payment of anyjudgment so recovered by the plaintiff, shall bemade forthwithh by the treasurer of any suchcounty, town, city orvillage, upon presentationof , a certified copy thereof', without other orfurther order . He shall preserve said copy ofsaid judgment as his warrant forsuch paymentand shall require the satisfaction of record ofsaid judgment upon the making of such pay-ment The amount of any judgment so paid bythe county treasurer shall be charged to theproper town, city or village and may be in-cluded by the county as a special charge againstsuch town, city or village if such judgment shallbe the result of an error or defect caused by saidtown, cityy or village or official thereof'.

75 . 63 . ' Ejectment as to public lands ; condi -tions . ( 1 ) No action shall be commenced, main-tained or prosecuted by or on behalf' of theoriginal owner or any person claiming titlethrough or under such owner to recover posses-sion of or in any way involving the title to anylands conveyed to the state of Wisconsin by anycounty, or attempted to be so conveyed, andsold by said state to any person until all taxeslevied and assessed thereon from the date of thesale thereof' by the state, together with all legalcharges for assessing and collecting the sameand interest thereon at the rate of eight percentum per year from the .fifteenth day of Janu-ary in each and every year during which the saidlands were assessed, commencing with the Jan-uary following the first assessment after suchsale, shall have been paid into the treasury ofthe county in which such lands shall lie ; noruntil all delinquent taxes levied upon and re-turned against said lands and remaining unpaidwhen the same were so conveyed or attemptedto be to the state, together with the like interestthereon, shall have been paid into such countytreasury ; which money shall be retained in saidtreasury to abide the event of such action and bereturned to the party paying or depositing thesame if'the party fails to maintain such action ;otherwise, so much thereof' as covers the delin-quent taxes above mentioned and interestthereon at the rate aforesaid shall be retained bysuch county and the remainder shall be paid

75.62 Tax sales ; actions to set aside . (1)CONDITIONAL PAYMENT . Whenever' any actionor special proceeding is hereafter commenced toset aside any sale of lands for the nonpaymentof taxes, or to cancel any tax certificate, or torestrain the issuing of any tax certificate or taxdeed, or to set aside any tax, for any error ordefect going to the validity of thee assessmentand affecting the groundwork of such tax,within 20 days after the commencement of'suchaction the plaintiff in such action or specialproceeding shall pay or cause to be paid to thecounty, town, city, or village officer entitled toreceive the same, the amount of taxes, interestand charges levied against the said lands in-volved in such action, as a condition of main-taining said action .

(2) REASSESSMENT ; PROCEEDING , If in saidaction or proceeding a reassessment is ordered,the court shall, upon the completion of saidreassessment made in the manner required bystatute, determine the amount which, accordingto said reassessment, the plaintiff' ought justly

75.61 TAX SALES

court to be made by the plaintiff shall apply toall actions brought to cancel any tax deed , or toremove the cloud upon any title created by anytax certificate or tax deed where the actionimpeaches the tax deed or tax certificate uponany grounds whatever not affecting the ground-work of the tax for the nonpaymen t of whichsuch deed or tax certificate was issued ..

(2) TAX CERTIFICATES OF COUNTY, DISCOUNTON Whenever the county owns and holds taxcertificates upon real estate and the owner ofsaid real estate or any person, firm, associationor corporation holding a valid lien thereon shallclaim the assessment of said real estate to begreater than the value that can ordinarily beobtained therefor at private sale, the respectivetown board , village board or city council wheresaid real estate is situated may take proof' underoath of' the value of said real estate and make afinding thereon . Upon the filing of said findingwith the county treasurer he shall accept fr omsaid owner or lienholder the proper propor-tional tax on said real estate based : upon thevalue so found, together with the propercharges , as in the case of redemption of taxcertificates , shall cancel said tax certificate , andshall give to said owner or lienholder a receiptfor said tax . The difference between the tax asreturned and the amount of such proportionaltax, exclusive of charges, received by the countyas a result of the compromise shall be chargedto the town , village or city whichh returned thesame and may be included by the county as aspecial charge in the next tax levy against suchtown, city or village :

History: 1979c . 110

2 1 10


over to the person purchasing the same from thestate or the person's legal representatives .

(2) If the title to any such lands shall beadjudged to be in such original owner or partyclaiming title through or under him they shall bedeemed to be and shall be subject to taxationduring the time the same were held by the statein like manner as if they had not been conveyedto or held by it, and the taxes for such periodshall be levied and assessed upon such lands andcollected in like manner as other, taxes upon realestate. . In all such actions the court shall enteran order requiring the plaintiff therein, within areasonable time to be fixed in the order, tocomply with this section by payment of thetaxes, charges and interest as provided herein,and in default of compliance therewith the courtshall dismiss the action .. Nothing herein con-tained shall be construed as amending or repeal-ing s . '75 ..26; 75 27 or 75 .61 .

History : 1973-c, 189; 1977 c . 29 s 1646 (3); 1977 c 27.3 ;19'79 c l 10 s, 60 (13)

75 .64 No jurisdiction ; issue of deed post-poned deposit. (1) In all cases to set aside anysale of lands, or to cancel any tax certificate orto enjoin or, restrain the issuing of 'a tax deedbecause the lands sold or described in the cer:tifi-cate were not liable to taxation or because thetaxes on the lands were paid prior to the sale orbecause the lands have been redeemed accord-ing to law, the owner of, or any person inter-ested in, the lands covered by the lienn of thecertificate may, at any time before final judg-ment is entered, deposit with the county clerkor, if the certificate was issued by the citytreasurer, with the city treasurer the amount forwhich the lands were sold, with interest from thedate of the sale to the date of the deposit andpenalty as provided under s . 74 ..80, togetherwith the legall charges on it .

(2) The clerk or treasurer shall retain suchdeposit until the final determination of theaction, and if the certificate is vacated and setaside or if the issuing of the deed is permanentlyrestrained, the money deposited shall, at thetime of entry of judgment or at any later time,upon demand, be returned to the person depos-iting it If' final judgment is rendered in theaction sustaining the validity ofthe sale and taxcertificate the court shall compute the interestupon the certificate from the date of the depositto the date of',judgment and penalty as providedunder s '74 .:80 and add it to the costs anddisbursements taxable in the action and to theamount of the deposit, and shall enter judgmentagainst the plaintiff' for the total amount, andno tax deed may be issued upon the certificateunless the plaintiff fails to pay to the clerk ortreasurer, for the use of the owner ofthe certifi-

75.67 Tax sales, certificates and deeds inMilwaukee city and county .. (1) In countieshaving a population of 500 ,000 or more con-taining a city authorized to sell land for nonpay-ment of its taxes, whenever either such countyor city acquired, subsequent to January 1 , 1933 ,any property by tax deed , or foreclosure deed,upon its delinquent owned tax certificates or byquitclaim deed or by any other means , theassignment or sale of othectax certificates andthe redemption and cancellation thereof ' shallbe as provided by this section ..

(2) All tax certificates issued upon a sale ofsuch property by such county or city on thesame day or subsequent to the date of sale of thecertificate upon which such deed was acquired ,and which certificates are owned by suchcounty or city at the time of the acquisition ofthe property, shall only be sold by assignmentor otherwise to such county or city so owningsuch property On any tax sale subsequent tothe acquisition of such property after the firstMonday of August in any year , such county orcity so owning such land shall be the exclusivepurchaser ofthe tax certificates and the countyor the city treasurer shall bid in and purchasethe same.. Any transfer or sale of a tax certifi-cate in violation of' theseprovisions shall be nulland void ,. It is the duty of the city and thecounty treasurer to give thee other , as the casemay be, written notice ofthe acquisition of suchproperty within twenty-four hours, Sundaysand holidays excluded , after such tax deed,foreclosure deed , or other conveyance has beenacquired ; and upon receipt of such notice it isthe duty of such treasurer , as the case may be, tomake entry of such notice upon his salesrecords .

(3) (a) Whenever such property has been soacquired as a result of tax sale before or afterMarch 14 , 1941 , the city treasurer shall notifythe county clerk and the county treasurer, or thecounty clerk shall notify the city treasurer, asthe case may be , in writing thereof within 24hours thereafter; Sundays and holidays ex-cluded , The county treasurer of the city trea-surer upon receipt of such notice shall forthwithcharge the amount , withoutt interest or penal-ties , of all city, county , state and metropolitansewerage district current and delinquent taxes ,all unpaid - instalments of special assessmentsand other assessments , charges and tax certifi-cates which are liens upon the land , and whichare owned or held by or due to such county orcity, as the case may ,be, and upon which thetime limitations of s,'75 .. 20 have not expired, to

2111 TAX SALES 75 .67

cate , the amount of the judgment within 20 daysafter its rendition , together with interest on it ..

History: 1981 c 167


75 .68 Consideration in sale of land for non-payment of taxes. Any county or any citytherein authorized by charter to sell andpurchase land for nonpayment of'taxes may sellor dispose of land acquired by it by tax deed ordeed of foreclosure on tax certificates, or byquitclaim deed or by any other means, and notneeded by it for public use, for a considerationin amount the same as or more or less than thefulll value which could ordinarily be obtainedtherefor at a private sale.. The amount of suchconsideration shall not affect the determina-tion, in any other proceeding, of such full valueof'such property, or of any comparable property

75.70 . Delinquent tax landss and taxes . (1)DEEDS TO MUNICIPALITIES, The county boardmay authorize the county clerk to deed county-owned lands to towns, citiess or villages havingan excess of delinquent real estate taxes to theircredit in exchange for such part of the interest ofthe town, city or village for- one or more years asmay be agreed upon by the county board and

75.67 TAX SALES

a "tax deed in force" account , and such taxes ,assessments and certificates shall thereby beconsidered as paid or redeemed and such taxesshall be marked paid or redeemed on the taxroll ; as the case may be; thereafter the amountsthereof owned by or due to such county shall becharged back against such city and suchamounts thereof ' owned or held by or due tosuch city shall be credited to such city in the nexttax levy upon such city by the county ..

(b) On or before October 1 of each year , thecity treasurer and the county treasurer shallrespectively furnish the other with an itemizedstatement of' the amounts so charged by him , asthe case may be , to the city 's or county's "taxdeed in force " account as a result of tax deedstaken by the city or county .. The county clerkshall include an itemized statement of suchamounts in the apportionment filed by him .. Ifany such tax deed is set aside , the city treasurerand the county treasurer shall respectivelycredit the other with the amounts so chargedwith respect to the deed set aside , and theamounts and entries by either treasurer withreference thereto , comprising said amountsshall be as though no charge had been made to a"tax deed in force " account; and the city trea-surer and the county treasurer , respectively,shall , on or before October 1 of each year ,advise the other of such credits due him . .

(c) In the event that such property is soacquired by such city while the county tax roll isin the possession of its city treasurer , the lattershall consider such taxes as paid and mark thetax roll accordingly, and furnish the countytreasurer with a statement thereof' upon a formprovided by the county .. He shall return suchrecords to the county treasurer with the delin-quent county tax roll , and shall receive credittherefor the same as for delinquent taxes . . Theamount forwhich such credit is given shall beincluded in the amount to be charged back tosuch city in succeeding apportionment ofcounty taxes . .

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similarly situated . . Any such sale or dispositionof lands shall be made subject to s 75 . . 69 ..

75.69 Sale of tax delinquent real estate . (1)Except as provided in sub .. (lm), no tax delin-quent real estatee acquired by a municipality asdefined in s 75 . . .35 (1) (a) may be sold unless thesale and appraised value of such real estate hasfirst been advertised by publication of'a class 3notice, under ch 985 . Any such municipalitymay accept the bid most advantageous to it butevery bid less than the appraised value of theproperty shall be rejected . . Any such municipal-ity is authorized to sell for an amount equal toor above the appraised value, without readvec-tising, any land previously advertised for sale .

(1m) (a) Subsection (1) does not apply tocounties with a population of 500,000 or more ..

(b) Notwithstanding sub (1), any countymay advertise the sale of any or all of its realestate that has been tax delinquent for at least 4years by publishing a class 3 notice under ch .985, indicating in which municipality or munici-palities and in which ward or wards the realestate is located and the place and date for filingwritten bids but without listing specific parcelsor appraised values for the parcels, if the countymakes readily available in the courthouse a listof the parcels and the appraised value of eachparcel .

(2) This section shall not apply to exchangeof property under s 59 97 (8), to withdrawaland sale of'county forest lands, nor to the sale orexchange of lands to or between municipalitiesor to the state .

(3) This section shall apply to all tax delin-quent lands regardless of the date ofacquisitionby the municipality

(4) No tax delinquent real estate may be soldby a county under this section unless notice ofsuch sale is mailed to the clerk of the municipal-ity in which the real estate is located at least 3weeks prior to the time of the sale . Any countymay sell tax delinquent real estate by open orclosed bid,Hist ory : 1983 a. 344 .Counties may not transfer county owned mineral rights,

acquired through nonpayment of taxes, to private personswithout following the appraisal and public sale provisions ofthis section . 67 Atty .. Gen . . 236

Where county proceeds under (1), it can accept bid itdeems in good faith to be most advantageous to county inview of criteria in bid notice . . 70 Atty.. Gen 1 .



the governing body of the town , city or villagee to purchase and assume such delinquent taxes ,The lands so conveyed shall be valued at not less tax certificates and interest thereon from anythan the face value of the certificates covering town , city or village , exclusive of the penaltythem: provided by s . '74.. 0 .3 , as exceed the sum then due

(2) PURCHASE OF inxES . The county board the county from the town , city or village formay , by a two-thirds vote, authorize the county unpaid county taxes .


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