Sec. 15. (a) Except as provided in section 7 of this chapter, the county treasurer shall, at the time and place designated in the notice, sell at public auction to the highest bidder each mobile home that is specified in the order for sale. The county treasurer shall keep a record of all sales in the form prescribed by the state board of accounts. The proceeds of the sale shall be paid into the county treasury and applied as follows:

(1) First, to the collection expenses.

(2) Second, to the payment of the delinquent taxes and penalties.

(3) Third, to the payment of other tax delinquencies of the taxpayer in the order provided in subsection (b).

(4) Fourth, to the payment of amounts owed to creditors having a security interest in the mobile home.

(5) Fifth, to the payments of any amounts owed to the owner of a mobile home community under IC 16-41-27-29.

(6) Sixth, any balance remaining shall be paid to the mobile home sale surplus fund.

     (b) Any surplus funds to be applied to the other delinquent taxes of a taxpayer under subsection (a)(3) shall be applied as follows:

(1) First, to the payment of delinquent personal property taxes owed in the county by the taxpayer.

(2) Second, to the payment of delinquent real property taxes owed in the county by the taxpayer.

(3) Third, to the payment of delinquent personal property taxes owed by the taxpayer and certified from another county.

     (c) The:

(1) owner of record of a mobile home assessed as personal property at the time the mobile home was placed on the tentative auction list under section 4 of this chapter, if the owner of record at the time the mobile home was placed on the tentative auction list retained ownership of the mobile home until the mobile home was sold under this chapter; or

(2) purchaser under this chapter of the mobile home assessed as personal property or the purchaser’s assignee, if the owner of record at the time the mobile home was placed on the tentative auction list sold the mobile home to a person other than the purchaser under this chapter before the sale of the mobile home under this chapter;

may file a verified claim for money that is deposited in the mobile home sale surplus fund. If the claim is approved by the county auditor and the county treasurer, the county auditor shall issue a warrant to the claimant for the amount due.

     (d) If the person who claims money deposited in the mobile home sale surplus fund under subsection (a) is a person other than a person described in subsection (c), the county auditor may issue a warrant to the person only as directed by the court having jurisdiction over the sale of the mobile home assessed as personal property for which the surplus claim is made.

     (e) A court may direct the issuance of a warrant only:

(1) on petition by the claimant; and

(2) within three (3) years after the date of sale under this chapter of the mobile home assessed as personal property.

     (f) If an amount applied to taxes under this section is later paid out of the county general fund to the purchaser or the purchaser’s successor due to the invalidity of the sale, all the taxes shall be reinstated and recharged to the tax duplicate and collected in the same manner as if the mobile home assessed as personal property had not been offered for sale.

     (g) When a refund is made to any purchaser or purchaser’s successor by reason of the invalidity of a sale, the county auditor shall, at the December settlement immediately following the refund, deduct the amount of the refund from the gross collections in the taxing district in which the land lies and shall pay that amount into the county general fund.

As added by P.L.235-2017, SEC.9.