Certainly, the legislature recognized that an assessor may not learn of a sale immediately or, due to limited staff and resources, may not be able to act immediately. Nothing in the statutes indicates that any delay in removing the designation invalidates the notice. The magistrate correctly held that removal of the designation begins the 30-day notice period. In this appeal, neither party introduced any evidence as to when the assessor physically changed the records and removed the designation. Therefore, the notice was timely.
Taxpayers are partly correct.
Until the designation is removed, no additional taxes are due. Therefore, the money collected in escrow should not have been paid to the county assessor without taxpayers' consent. The assessor attempted to correct the situation by giving notice of removal on June 23, 1998. However, the amount was still not yet due or collectable. In short, the lien was not illegal, just late in arising.