2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTEEN - Taxation and Finance (§§ 1 — 33423) › Subtitle 3 - Property Taxes (§§ 401 — 701-701-41) › Chapter 55 - Attachment, Sale, and Redemption of Property (§§ 501 — 522) › § 510 - Auction; notice and payment of surplus to taxpayer; effect on right of redemption

The time, place and conditions of in which said auction shall take place shall be clearly stated in said advertisement. Upon the expiration of the aforesaid period of publication, or as soon as possible after such expiration, said property shall be sold by the collector, at public auction, to the highest bidder. No bid shall be accepted for a lesser amount than that fixed in § 506 of this title for the auction sale, unless a cash deposit of ten percent (10%) of the amount bid is deposited; which deposit will be forfeited in the event of failure on the part of the purchaser to pay the balance of the purchase money for which the property was sold with[in] ten (10) days following the date of the sale.
Within thirty (30) days after the holding of the auction sale, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, after applying the proper amount to the payment of the debt, notify the taxpayer of the result of the auction, informing him of the amount of the surplus, if the price of the award was higher than the debt under collection, and, also, whether the grantee was a third person or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Secretary of the Treasury shall be bound to deliver to the taxpayer, upon his request, at any time within the term of one year from the date of the auction, the said surplus, if the grantee was a third person and if said grantee certifies that the taxpayer has conveyed to him the ownership of the property, or that such conveyance has been agreed upon to the satisfaction of both. In such case, the right of redemption granted by § 515 of this title shall be understood to have prescribed as soon as said amount is delivered to the taxpayer or to his lawful estate. After a year, if the taxpayer has not exercised the right of redemption, or if said right has lapsed, as hereinbefore provided, the Secretary of the Treasury shall be bound to notify the taxpayer or his estate that the surplus is available for delivery, and to deliver said surplus upon proof, by the interested persons who may so request, of the right they may have thereto. When the award has been made to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the taxpayer may, at any time after notification to him of the result of the auction, request the delivery to him of the surplus, and such request shall be interpreted as an offer of waiver of the right of redemption, which shall be consummated upon making delivery to him or to his estate. Said delivery shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury from such regular funds of the Government as are not otherwise appropriated, and there is hereby appropriated for such purpose, out of said regular funds, amounts not to exceed two hundred and fifty thousand (250,000) dollars in any one year, with the understanding that the amount actually and solely appropriated each year shall be such portion as is actually used for such purpose. Before making payment of the surplus to the taxpayer, the Secretary of the Treasury may permit any instrumentality or agency of the Government of Puerto Rico to acquire the auctioned property, if the nature of the business of said instrumentality or agency is compatible with such acquisition. In such case said agency or instrumentality shall pay to the taxpayer or to his estate, through the Secretary of the Treasury, the surplus, and shall pay to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount of the debt for the collection of which the property was auctioned. A certificate from the Secretary of the Treasury that both payments have been effected shall constitute sufficient title to the property in favor of said instrumentality or agency, and said title shall be registrable in the proper Registry of Property. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make no payment whatsoever of the surplus to the taxpayer before said taxpayer shall have delivered the possession of the property.
History —Political Code, 1902, § 343; Mar. 10, 1904, p. 167, § 38; Dec. 3, 1917, No. 54, p. 370; May 9, 1945, No. 138, p. 466, § 1; June 13, 1964, No. 47, p. 109; Aug. 6, 1991, No. 48, § 3.