2006 Code of Virginia § 58.1-3340 - Lien on real estate for taxes and levies assessed thereon; responsibility of purchaser at sale; lie...

58.1-3340. Lien on real estate for taxes and levies assessed thereon;responsibility of purchaser at sale; lien on rents.

There shall be a lien on real estate for the payment of taxes and leviesassessed thereon prior to any other lien or encumbrance. The lien shallcontinue to be such prior lien until actual payment shall have been made tothe proper officer of the taxing authority. The purchaser at a sale shallcause the proceeds to be applied to the payment of all taxes and leviesassessed on real estate, the provisions of 55-59.4 notwithstanding. In thecase of the purchase of a portion of a tract of land, the purchaser shallcause the proceeds to be applied to the payment of taxes and levies assessedon the entire tract, prorated in accordance with the relationship that thepurchase price bears to the most recent assessed value of the entire tract.If the cost per acre of the purchased parcel is less than the assessed valueper acre of the entire tract, or if, in the reasonable opinion of the localcommissioner of the revenue or other assessing officer, the purchase price isless than the fair market value of the purchased parcel, the localcommissioner of the revenue or other assessing officer may require that anappraisal, prepared by a state-certified or state-licensed appraiser, of thepurchased parcel be provided, and in such event the proration shall be madein accordance with the relationship that the greater of (i) the appraisedvalue of the purchased parcel or (ii) the purchase price bears to the mostrecent assessed value of the entire tract. In the event a proration isnecessary, the purchaser's portion of such tract of land shall be relieved ofsuch lien to the extent the proceeds exceed the purchaser's pro rata share oftaxes. It shall be the responsibility of the treasurer or other properofficer of the taxing authority to cause the release of the lien. Theseller's liability for taxes and levies shall be effectively proratedcontractually. The words "taxes" and "levies" as used in this sectioninclude the penalties and interest accruing on such taxes and levies inpursuance of law. The lien imposed hereby shall, in addition to existingremedies for the collection of taxes and levies, be enforceable by suit inequity under the provisions of Article 4 ( 58.1-3965 et seq.) of Chapter 39.

There shall be a further lien upon the rents of such real estate whether thesame be in money or in kind, for taxes of the current year.

(Code 1950, 58-762, 58-1023; 1973, c. 467; 1979, c. 12; 1984, c. 675;1994, c. 386; 1995, c. 143.)