(a) The court shall have jurisdiction to award personal judgment against an owner upon the claim for the debt upon determining that proper process has been served upon such owner. The court shall have jurisdiction to award a judgment enforcing the lien by a sale of the parcel upon determining that any the following actions have occurred as to each owner:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 67-5-2415

  • Code: includes the Tennessee Code and all amendments and revisions to the code and all additions and supplements to the code. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
(1) That proper process has been served upon an owner;
(2) That the owner has actual notice of the proceedings by mail or otherwise; or
(3) That constructive notice by publication pursuant to §§ 21-1-203 and 21-1-204, except as modified in this section, utilizing a description of the parcel in accord with § 67-5-2502(a)(1), has been given to unborn, unfound and unknown owners and that the plaintiff has made or will make a diligent effort prior to the confirmation of the sale of the parcel to give actual notice of the proceedings to persons owning an interest in the parcel, as identified by the searches described in § 67-5-2502(c)(2).
(b) Notice shall also be sufficient if received by an owner in time to afford the owner a reasonable period to prevent the loss of owner’s interest in the parcel. Such loss shall be deemed to occur upon the expiration or termination of the redemption period established by part 27 of this chapter.
(c) Notice of the pendency of the proceedings as to a parcel constitutes notice of the pending sale of the parcel and vice versa.
(d) If process is to be served upon a defendant, the defendant does not have to receive a copy of the complaint or exhibits. The plaintiff may in lieu thereof furnish to the defendant a notice identifying the proceedings sufficiently for the defendant to determine the parcel which is subject to the delinquent taxes for which the defendant is being sued.
(e) A defendant may file a pleading alleging specific facts establishing any of the following defenses:

(1) That the parcel is not subject to sale for the taxes;
(2) That the taxes have been paid; or
(3) That there has been substantial noncompliance with mandatory statutory provisions relating to the proceedings.
(f) Process may be served either by an authorized process server or forwarded by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, or by any alternative delivery service as authorized by Section 7502 of the Internal Revenue Code ( 26 U.S.C. § 7502 ).
(g) The return of the receipt signed by the defendant, spouse, or other person deemed appropriate to receive summons or notice as provided for in the Rules of Civil Procedure, or its return marked “refused”, “unclaimed”, or other similar notation, as evidenced by appropriate notation of such fact by the postal authorities, and filed as a part of the record by the clerk shall be evidence of actual notice and shall be grounds for a default judgment. Process and notices delivered by registered or certified mail or by an alternative delivery service, with a return receipt, to an interested party’s registered agent at the agent’s address or to the address of the interested party, each as shown on the corporate records of a state secretary of state or other officer responsible for maintaining such records, shall be sufficient to bind the interested party as to notices and service of process.
(h) Prior to confirming the sale of a parcel, the court shall determine that a diligent effort has been made to give actual notice of the proceedings to all interested persons, as identified by the searches described in § 67-5-2502(c)(2).
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