HB 159 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SALES OF REAL ESTATE MADE BY A SHERIFF.

Mitchell HOUSE& OFRep. REPRESENTATIVES 151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.

1Dorsey TOWalker HOUSE& BILLSen. NO.

159Poore AMEND& HouseSen. Bill No.

159Hansen byRep. deleting line 9 and 10 in their entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“(2)Briggs atKing; At the courthouse for the county in which the premises are situated.

situated,Sens. or in Sussex County, at the Sussex County Sheriff’s officer or.

InEnnis, KentGay, County,Sturgeon salesHOUSE mayOF alsoREPRESENTATIVES be151st conductedGENERAL inASSEMBLY anyHOUSE buildingBILL inNO. which the Sheriff’s Office is located.” FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.

159 byAN deletingACT lineTO 12AMEND andTITLE 1310 inOF theirTHE entiretyDELAWARE andCODE insertingRELATING inTO lieuSALES thereofOF theREAL following:ESTATE MADE BY A SHERIFF.

“(4)BE atIT AtENACTED anyBY publicTHE buildingGENERAL orASSEMBLY outdoorsOF onTHE anySTATE publicOF propertyDELAWARE: located in the county seat where the premises are situated.” FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.

159Section by1. deleting lines 14 through 17 in their entirety.

SYNOPSISAmend This§ amendment4974, removesTitle the10 authorizationof tothe holdDelaware salesCode ofby realmaking estatedeletions duringas theshown executionby processstrike through anand onlineinsertions auctionas process.shown by underline as follows:

This(a) amendmentAs alsoused makesin technicalthis corrections.section, “public building” and “public property” mean a building or property that is open to members of the public who wish to attend a sheriff’s sale.

“Public building” or “public property” includes a building or property not owned by the government or a governmental entity.

(b) All sales of real estate, made by a sheriff by virtue of execution process, shall be made at any one of the following locations:

(1) on On the premises to be sold, or sold.

(2) at At the courthouse for the county in which the premises are situated.

situated, or in Sussex County, at the Sussex County Sheriff’s office or (3) At the Sheriff’s Office or the building in which the Sheriff’s Office is located.

(4) at At any public building or outdoors on any public property located in the county seat of the county where the premises are situated.

(5) Through an online auction process that is available to the public and accommodates parties who cannot bid electronically.

(6) Through any public sale process authorized by a court order.

In Kent County, sales may also be conducted in any building in which the Sheriff’s Office is located.

(c) Unless otherwise directed by court order, the sheriff conducting a sale retains exclusive authority to determine the location and means for the sale of real property by virtue of execution as permitted by subsection (b) of this section.

SYNOPSIS This act modifies the locations at which sheriff’s sales may be conducted to provide the sheriffs with needed flexibility and to modernize the sheriff’s sale process.The recent COVID-19 pandemic has revealed substantial inflexibility in 10 Del.

C.

§ 4974 as currently adopted, forcing the sheriff of each of the three counties to either hold sheriff’s sales outdoors, find non-governmental venues in which to hold sheriff’s sales or cancel sheriff’s sales.

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06/14/202104/27/2021 12:2701:19 PM 2141510343Additionally, the New Castle County Sheriff is considering using an online auction process to conduct sheriff’s sales, as other counties throughout the United States have done, but § 4974 as currently adopted does not permit online sheriff’s sales.

Finally, this act removes uncertainty regarding the meaning of the term “public building” as currently used in § 4974 by adopting a definition that is consistent with the Delaware Supreme Court’s definition of that term in Moore v.

Wilmington Housing Authority, 619 A.2d 1166, 1174-75 (Del.

1993).

HD :

NSW :

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