2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 7 - Municipal Property Tax (§§ 5001 — 6756) › PART III (§§ 5901 — 6756) › Chapter 256 - Sale of Transferable Tax Debts (§§ 5921 — 5944) › § 5936 - Notice of attachment

(a) Personal property.—
(1) After the term provided by subsection (b) of § 5933 of this title, the owner of the certificate of sale shall deliver to the taxpayer or any member of his or her family in charge of the property a copy of the notice of attachment. When the owner of the certificate of sale is unable to locate the debtor taxpayer or a member of his or her family in charge of the property, he or she shall send the notice of attachment by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address which appears in the certificate of sale, or should the address be unavailable or is known to be incorrect or when the owner of the certificate of sale is attaching another property of the debtor, the owner of the certificate of sale may make all reasonable efforts to determine the correct address of the debtor, according to what the Center has provided through regulations. Serving the attachment in the manner stated above shall be evidence of the fact that the taxpayer in default was notified of the same.
(2) The notice of attachment shall state the total amount of the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus the interest, surcharges and fees, with a warning that if the credit for the transferred tax debt is not paid up, with its interest, surcharges and fees, within the term of thirty (30) days from the date of the notice, the attached property, or that part of it which is sufficient to cover the debt, shall be sold at public auction as soon as possible after said period with no further notice.
(3) As soon as the attachment has been carried out in the manner indicated above, the owner of the certificate of sale may seize the attached property by means of the procedure described below. The owner of the certificate of sale shall file before the Court of First Instance, Superior Part, a sworn statement attesting that the taxpayer or the owner of the property has not paid the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus the interest and surcharges thereon and that the claim is made in good faith, and shall include a copy of the certificate of sale. Once said documents have been received, the clerk of the court shall summon the interested parties in writing, to a hearing which shall be held before the court within ten (10) days following the date of the summons. Should the court determine that the taxpayer or the owner of the property has not paid up the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus the interest and surcharges thereon, it shall order the marshall to seize the personal property subject to the attachment and deliver it to a receiver appointed by the court for that purpose. On the back of the sworn statement the marshall shall state the fact of the seizure and the delivery of the aforementioned assets, with a detailed description of the latter, as well as the place, day and hour of the seizure. A copy of said sworn statement and the information on the back of the latter shall be delivered to the taxpayer and the owner of the property, should it be a different person. The marshall shall also remit the original documents to the clerk of the court to be entered into the record. The marshall shall charge a fee of ten dollars ($10) to be paid in internal revenue stamps.
(4) Should any depositary of attached assets dispose of these without authorization, he/she shall incur a felony, and upon conviction, shall be sanctioned with a fine of three thousand dollars ($3,000) and the restitution of the fair market value of said assets or imprisonment for three (3) years, or both penalties at the discretion of the court.
(5) Every taxpayer whose personal property has been attached in order to collect a credit for a transferred tax debt, may appeal to the Court of First Instance, Superior Part, within a term of ten (10) days from the date of the notice of attachment and obtain the dissolution of the attachment, unless the owner of the certificate of sale presents sufficient legal grounds to pursuing the attachment during the hearing held by the court for such a purpose.
(6) Should any debtor taxpayer, or any of his/her relatives or dependents hinder the attachment procedure, or sell, hide, destroy, transfer, or assign without the prior written authorization of the owner of the certificate of sale, or otherwise alienates said property after the attachment is effected, shall incur a felony and upon conviction, shall be sanctioned with a fine of three thousand dollars ($3,000) and the restitution of the fair value of said assets, or by imprisonment for a three (3) -year term, or both penalties at the discretion of the court.
(b) Real property.—
(1) After the term provided by § 5933(b) of this title has elapsed, the owner of the sales certificate shall file a certificate of attachment for the registration thereof at the corresponding Property Registry, in the case of real property. If the sales certificate includes transferred tax debt credits corresponding to more than one property or to more than one debtor taxpayer, a certificate of attachment may be filed for all the properties and taxpayers covered by said sales certificate. Said certificate shall include: the name and Social Security number of the property owner and of the delinquent taxpayer, should it be a different person, if the Center’s records show such information (although the validity of the certificate of attachment shall not be affected if it omits the social security number or contains an incorrect social security number); the real estate registry number, the amount of the credit for the transferred tax debt, the interest, surcharges and fees owed on the latter; and the description of the attached real property. Said certificate shall also indicate that the attachment shall be valid in favor of the owner of the sales certificate. Once the certificate of attachment has been filed with the Property Registry, it shall be deemed as sufficient notice of attachment, after which the legal proceedings for collection shall be initiated. Immediately after the certificate of attachment has been received, the Property Registrar shall register it and return it within ten (10) days, to the owner of the sales certificate with a copy to the Center, stating that the latter has been duly registered. The Property Registrar shall not charge any fee for said service.
(2) Once the certificate of attachment has been filed with the Property Registry, the owner of the certificate of sale shall notify the fact to the property owner and the taxpayer in default, should it be a different person, as well as all other persons holding a mortgage or lien on said property its appears in the Property Registry, in the manner established in clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section. Said notice shall also state that the property shall be sold at the minimum rate fixed on the basis of the value of the taxpayer’s equity in the property subject to attachment or for the value of the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus interest, surcharges and fees thereon, whichever is less.
(3) If the person given notice of the attachment is not the owner of the attached property, nor holds a lien or mortgage on the latter, said person shall be compelled to give notice in writing of said circumstance to the owner of the certificate of sale within ten (10) days following the date in which said notice was received. The notice must include a warning as to the existence of said obligation to give notice. Any person who does not comply with the obligation to give notice, except for just cause, shall be bound to pay a penalty to the Center of two hundred dollars ($200).
(4) The owner of the certificate of sale may sell the attached real property at public auction before an independent auctioneer appointed by the owner of the certificate of sale, who meets all the terms and conditions of this chapter and the regulations established by the Center under § 5935(c) of this title or through a sale at public auction before the Court of First Instance, Superior Part, as provided herein.
(5) Should the attached real property be sold before an independent auctioneer, the owner of the certificate of sale shall follow the procedure established by the Center through the regulations promulgated under § 5935(c) of this title.
(6) In case it is requested that the sale of the real property at public auction be conducted before the Court of First Instance, the owner of the certificate of sale may petition the division of the Court of First Instance, Superior Part, of the place where the real property is located, that a judicial decision be issued ordering the sale of the real property at public auction.
(A) The petition must be made under oath and shall state:
(i) That the taxpayer or owner of the property has not paid the credit for the transferred tax debt;
(ii) the date on which the attachment was notified accompanied by a copy of the instrument for serving the notice of attachment or evidence that the certified letter was sent;
(iii) that the jurisdictional term for challenging the attachment has expired and that the taxpayer has not challenged the procedure as provided in subsection (d) of this section, and
(iv) that the claim is filed in good faith and is based on information obtained from the Center. A copy of the certificate of sale must be included with the petition.
(B) The judge to whom the petition was presented shall examine, within a period of thirty (30) days, the documentary evidence which supports the petition of the owner of the certificate of sale and with the results thereof shall issue, without the need for holding a hearing, an order to the marshal of the court for the sale at public auction of the attached property within a period of not more than sixty (60) days as of the date of the order so that the marshal may proceed to give the buyer ownership of the property sold within a term of twenty (20) days from the day of the sale at public auction.
(c) When the notice to the owner or the attachment of the property is carried out in the manner provided in this section, the owner of the certificate of sale may collect, in addition to the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus the interest and surcharges thereon, a sufficient amount to defray the cost of the custody and deposit of the attached property and the amount equivalent to ten percent (10%) of the total amount of the credit for the transferred tax debt, plus interest and surcharges thereon, to cover the cost of the attachment procedure, which shall be paid to the owner of the certificate of sale.
(d) If the taxpayer is not in agreement with the notice of attachment executed by the owner of the certificate of sale he or she may challenge only and exclusively the compliance with the attachment procedure and/or file all claims or defenses related to the payment of the tax debt, with the Court of First Instance within the term of thirty (30) days from the date in which the attachment was executed pursuant to clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section. This 30-day term is nonextendable and of a jurisdictional nature. During this stage of the proceeding the taxpayer may not challenge neither the imposition nor the validity of the tax debt issued by the Center. The challenge of the tax debt must be filed within the term provided in §§ 5001 et seq. of this title.
History —June 26, 1997, No. 21, § 18; June 30, 1998, No. 105, § 12; Aug. 12, 2000, No. 177, § 2.