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) › § 5923 - Authorization for the sale of transferable tax debts in default and fiscal liens

(a) The Center is hereby authorized, acting as representative of the municipalities or of the Government of Puerto Rico, to sell to any eligible person or public entity, some or all transferable tax debts in default. Through this chapter, the municipalities and the Government of Puerto Rico delegate on the Center their power to sell property tax debts. It shall be understood that with regard to some or all of the transferable tax debts in default belonging to the Government of Puerto Rico and corresponding to taxable years 1974-1975 to 1990-1991, the Center shall be bound to sell said debts should the Department of the Treasury so require it. Regarding some or all the transferable tax debts in default corresponding to taxable years 1991-1992 and subsequent years, the Center shall have absolute power to determine whether or not to sell under this chapter.
(b) The sale of transferable tax debts in default subject to fiscal lien shall entail the transfer of said lien in favor of the their purchaser. Said fiscal lien shall retain its implied character and maintain its preference in benefit of the purchaser and his/her transferees over any other creditor, including the Center, and over third acquiring parties, even though they have registered their rights in the Property Registry.
(c) The Government Bank and any of its subsidiaries, at their discretion, shall be authorized to purchase transferable tax debts in default from the Center.
(d) The Center may sell the transferable tax debts in default, whether nor not they are covered by the fiscal lien, through the individual or group sale of said tax debts in default, through negotiation or public auction or in any other manner it deems convenient.
(e) The Center, at the request of the Government Bank, shall analyze and clear the files related to property tax debts and take the necessary steps to identify the transferable tax debts in default.
(f) The Center and the Government Bank shall establish, through regulations, the criteria to be considered to determine the sales price of the transferable tax debts in default. Said price may be at a discount or with a premium. Up to five percent (5%) of the total amount of the transferable tax debts in default may be added to their sales price in order to cover the costs of handling the transaction.
(g) The Center, with the prior approval of the Government Bank, may accept as part of the sales price, any valid cause, including but without being limited to any promissory note, stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, trust certificate, any obligation of the purchaser with the commitment to make additional payments to the Center under the terms and conditions agreed upon between them, or in general, any asset, obligation or share in any of the instruments indicated above that are issued by the purchaser.
(h) Regarding any portion of the sales price that is payable in cash, the Center, at its discretion, may accept cash or its equivalent, in payment for the price of the transferable delinquent tax debts.
(i) The Center, in consultation with and the prior approval of the Government Bank, may make all the necessary arrangements for the sale of transferable tax debts in default, including the analysis and clearing of the files, entering into negotiations and contracts and issuing certificates of sale of transferable tax debts in default.
(j) Under no circumstances shall it be understood that the sale of transferable tax debts in default constitutes a loan to the Center, the municipalities or the Government of Puerto Rico, its instrumentalities, subdivisions or agencies.
(k) The Center, with the prior approval of the Government Bank, may be bound by contract to offer the purchasers of transferable tax debts in default the first purchase option on other transferable tax debts in default which may fall upon the same properties subject to credits for tax debts acquired by these.
History —June 26, 1997, No. 21, § 5; June 30, 1998, No. 105, § 2.