(a)  Cities or towns may make regulations for the possession, management, and sale of land purchased or taken for taxes not inconsistent with law or with the right of redemption. The treasurer of any city or town holding a tax title, upon payment to the city or town of a sum not less or more than the amount necessary for redemption, may assign and transfer the tax title to any person, and may execute and deliver on behalf of the city or town any instrument necessary for this purpose. The treasurer shall send notice of the intended assignment to the owner of record at the owner’s last known address, by registered or certified mail, at least ten (10) days prior to the assignment, but failure to receive the notice shall not affect the validity of the assignment. The instrument of assignment shall be recorded within sixty (60) days from its date and if recorded shall be prima facie evidence of all facts essential to its validity. Except as provided, all provisions of law applicable in cases where the original purchaser at a tax sale is other than the city or town shall after this apply in the case of an assignment, as if the assignee had been a purchaser for the original sum at the original sale and had paid to the city or town the subsequent taxes and charges included in the sum paid for the assignment (Forms 1 and 2).

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 44-9-18

  • 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.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • town: may be construed to include city; the words "town council" include city council; the words "town clerk" include city clerk; the words "ward clerk" include clerk of election district; the words "town treasurer" include city treasurer; and the words "town sergeant" include city sergeant. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-9

(b)  Neither a city or town nor any of its officers, agents or employees shall be liable or accountable to the owner or to any other person having an interest in the land for failure to collect rent or other income from the land; and neither the city or town nor any of its officers, agents or employees shall be liable for injury or damage caused by the possession of land or to the person or property of any person.

History of Section.
G.L. 1938, ch. 32, § 39; P.L. 1946, ch. 1800, § 1; impl. am. P.L. 1956, ch. 3717, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 44-9-18; P.L. 1997, ch. 42, § 2; P.L. 1997, ch. 74, § 1.