(a) An acceptable petitioner may file a petition for a judgment in rem against a subject parcel, naming the subject parcel as the defendant and seeking an order that the subject parcel is a public nuisance and for the abatement of the public nuisance. A proceeding pursuant to this section shall be a proceeding in rem. If the applicable municipal corporation is not the acceptable petitioner, then the applicable municipal corporation shall be put on notice of the in rem proceeding and provided with a full copy of the petition as filed by the acceptable petitioner. If the acceptable petitioner has not attached a certificate of public nuisance to the petition, the municipal corporation shall complete an inspection of the subject parcel within thirty (30) calendar days after the first setting of the matter in court, and the court shall promptly schedule a hearing on the issue of public nuisance. At the conclusion of the hearing on the issue of public nuisance, the court shall determine whether or not the issuance of a certificate of public nuisance is warranted. The court shall dismiss the action if the subject parcel is found not to be a public nuisance by the court.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 13-6-106

  • Acceptable petitioner: means :
    (A) Any nonprofit corporation. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Building: means any building or structure that is located on the subject parcel. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
  • Interested person: means , with respect to a subject parcel, any owner, named trustee, or other person that:
    (A) Holds, or is the assignee of the holder of, a lien against that subject parcel. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • 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.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
  • Municipal corporation: means any incorporated city or any county, including any county having a metropolitan form of government, and the code enforcement department or agency or other unit responsible for enforcing building and property conditions in the territorial jurisdiction of the city or county. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Owner: means one (1) or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom is vested all or part of the legal title to, or beneficial ownership of, the subject parcel. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Person: means any individual, firm, corporation, association, trust, partnership, joint venture, limited liability company, governmental authority, or other entity. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Public nuisance: means any building that is:
    (A) A menace to the public health, welfare, or safety. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Qualified buyer: means any person determined by the court to be a certified person as provided in §. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Receiver: means any certified person appointed by the court for the purpose of preserving or improving the subject parcel and all of the powers of a receiver appointed for tax enforcement pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • 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
  • Subject parcel: means a tract or item of real or personal property that becomes subject to the jurisdiction of a court pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 13-6-102
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(b) The petition filed pursuant to subsection (a) must include a draft order of compliance setting forth the relief requested as described in this section and shall specifically request the appointment of a receiver if an order of compliance pursuant to subsection (e) is entered and if the owner fails to comply with such order.
(c) The filing of a petition for a judgment in rem pursuant to subsection (a) shall:

(1) Create a receiver’s lien that secures an undetermined amount until the court establishes the amount. The precise amount of the receiver’s lien will be established by the court at any time upon the request of any owner, interested person, or the receiver. The receiver’s lien shall be a first lien on the subject parcel, which is superior to all prior and subsequent liens or other encumbrances associated with the subject parcel. The acceptable petitioner shall file for record in the register’s office of the county an abstract certified by the clerk, within one (1) day of certification by the clerk, containing the names of the parties to the suit, a statement that petition has been filed pursuant to this section, a description of the subject parcel and its ownership, and a brief statement of the nature and amount of the lien sought to be imposed, all in compliance with § 20-3-101, which filing shall act as a lien lis pendens against the subject parcel. The outstanding principal amount of the receiver’s lien carries interest at a standard statutory rate applicable to judgment liens as provided in § 67-5-2010;
(2) Act as a bar of any transfer of title of the subject parcel or of any interests pertaining to such subject parcel, including, but not limited to, transfers by tax sale or other foreclosure, transfers or creation of lien interests in the subject parcel, or otherwise, from the date of the filing until the petition is dismissed or until specific orders of the court authorizing a transfer of title, if the petition has attached a certificate of public nuisance issued pursuant to subsection (a); and
(3) Authorize the municipal corporation, in its discretion, to access the subject parcel for boarding, securing, and maintaining the subject parcel at any time if it has been determined by the court that the owner has failed to do so. Any costs incurred by the municipal corporation shall be charged to the owner.
(d) Notice of a petition for a judgment in rem filed pursuant to subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, be provided to each owner and interested person identified by a thorough title search and examination of the subject parcel, including a search of court records of the county where the subject parcel is located. The petitioner shall file with the court a certification that notice has been provided pursuant to this subsection (d). Notice shall be provided by:

(1) Sending a copy of the petition by first-class mail to the last known address of record;
(2) Posting a copy of the petition in a conspicuous place on the building;
(3) Publication of the petition in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county where the subject parcel is located; and
(4) Sending a copy of the petition by first-class mail addressed to “occupant” at the subject parcel.
(e) If the subject parcel is found to be a public nuisance, the court shall issue an order of compliance requiring the owner of the subject parcel to produce a plan for the abatement of the public nuisance. The acceptable petitioner shall file such order in the register’s office of the county where the subject parcel is located. The plan must comply with subsection (h) and must be approved by the court. If the owner has commenced work on the subject parcel prior to, or during the pendency of the action, the owner is required to provide a report of the work that has been completed to date, as well as a plan for the abatement of the public nuisance. Once a plan is approved by the court, the municipal corporation shall provide periodic updates to the court on the owner’s progress towards completion of the plan and other relevant information about the subject parcel and surrounding area. Upon a finding by the court that the subject parcel is a public nuisance, the court may award all reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the person filing the petition for a judgment in rem.
(f) If the owner fails to comply with the court’s order of compliance pursuant to subsection (e), the court may allow an interested person the opportunity to undertake the work to abate the public nuisance pursuant to a plan that complies with subsection (h) submitted by such interested person.
(g) If the actions pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) fail to abate the public nuisance, the court may authorize a receiver to take possession and control of the subject parcel to abate the public nuisance pursuant to a plan submitted by such receiver that complies with subsection (h). A receiver appointed pursuant to this chapter is not personally liable for actions taken pursuant to the receivership except for misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in the performance of the functions of the office.
(h)

(1) Prior to ordering any action be taken to abate the public nuisance, the court shall cause a detailed development plan to be submitted for review, which must include, but is not limited to:

(A) A detailed budget for abating the public nuisance;
(B) A projected timeline for abating the public nuisance;
(C) If repair and rehabilitation of the subject parcel are found not to be feasible, the cost of demolition of the subject parcel or of the portions of the subject parcel that constitute the public nuisance; and
(D) The terms, conditions, and availability of any financing that is necessary to abate the public nuisance or a show of sufficient assets.
(2) If the receiver is submitting the plan, the receiver may petition the court for authority to conduct an auction and sale to a qualified buyer, in accordance with subsection (j), without abatement of the public nuisance upon showing that the terms of the auction minimum bid will include a bond or other security, in an amount fixed by the court, ensuring performance of the remediation within nine (9) months of the date of the auction sale, executed by the qualified buyer in favor of the receiver.
(i)

(1) If the court deems a plan submitted by a receiver to be sufficient and appropriate, the court may empower the receiver to:

(A) Take possession and control of the subject parcel;
(B) Pay all expenses of operating and conserving the subject parcel, including obtaining property insurance;
(C) Pay prereceivership mortgages or installments of such mortgages and other liens; and
(D) Implement the plan; provided, that, if the plan requires demolition, the court shall order that the demolition be done properly and in compliance with applicable laws.
(2) The receiver shall file a report with the court every sixty (60) calendar days and, upon completion of the detailed development plan, shall file a final report with the court indicating that the public nuisance has been abated and moving for the establishment of the full amount of the receiver’s lien. Upon a finding by the court that the public nuisance has been abated and establishing the amount of the receiver’s lien, the owner shall be put on notice that the owner has thirty (30) days from such finding to satisfy the receiver’s lien in full. If the owner satisfies the receiver’s lien in full during such time, the receivership shall be terminated by order of the court.
(j) If the receiver’s lien is not satisfied by the owner pursuant to subdivision (i)(2), the court shall direct the receiver to offer the subject parcel for sale in accordance with the following:

(1) The sales procedure shall follow the procedures provided in §§ 35-5-101 – 35-5-109;
(2) The minimum bid at a receiver’s lien sale shall be the full amount of the receiver’s lien;
(3) If any local land bank formed pursuant to § 13-30-104 notifies the receiver in writing in advance of the receiver’s lien sale that it wishes to enter the minimum bid for cash for the subject parcel, then such minimum bid shall preempt all other bids, and the local land bank shall be the prevailing bidder;
(4) If there is no bidder at the receiver’s lien auction for greater than the minimum bid, the subject parcel shall be transferred by receiver’s deed to the receiver, and there shall be no requirement of cash payment of the minimum bid by the receiver;
(5) When the successful bid is paid in cash, the amount of the minimum bid is paid to satisfy the receiver’s lien, including payment to the appropriate property tax officials, of that portion of the receiver’s lien that constituted delinquent property taxes. Any surplus shall be distributed, as approved by the court, to the owner and interested persons in the priority in which their interests encumbered the subject parcel prior to the auction; and
(6) The receiver shall report the prevailing bid at the sale to the court, and upon approval by the court, a receiver’s deed shall be issued to the successful bidder and promptly recorded in the office of the register of deeds. The county trustee shall be allowed a credit pursuant to § 67-5-1903(b)(1) for any local taxes and assessments that are not collected as a result of the failure of the receiver’s lien sale to receive a cash payment for the minimum bid pursuant to subdivision (j)(2). Title shall be absolute in the purchaser, and the interests of any interested persons prior to the auction shall be terminated as of the date of the sale. The receivership shall be terminated after the sale by order of the court after a hearing on receiver’s motion for termination of the receivership.
(k)

(1) Nothing in this chapter limits the powers granted to a court having jurisdiction pursuant to § 13-6-107.
(2) The monetary and other limitations specified in § 16-15-501(d)(1) upon any court with jurisdiction over an action described in subsection (a) do not operate as limitations upon any of the following:

(A) Expenditures of a mortgagee, lienholder, other interested person, or receiver that has been selected pursuant to subsection (f) or (g) to undertake the work and to furnish the materials necessary to abate a public nuisance;
(B) Any notes issued by a receiver;
(C) Any mortgage granted by a receiver;
(D) Expenditures in connection with the foreclosure of a mortgage granted by a receiver in accordance with subsection (i);
(E) The enforcement of an order of a judge entered pursuant to this chapter; or
(F) The actions that may be taken pursuant to this chapter by a receiver or a mortgagee, lienholder, or other interested person that has been selected pursuant to subsection (f) or (g) to undertake the work and to furnish the materials necessary to abate a public nuisance.
(3) A judge in a civil action described in subsection (a), or the judge’s successor in office, has continuing jurisdiction to review and order correction of the condition of any subject parcel that was determined to be a public nuisance pursuant to this chapter.
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