18-3418. Sale of property as part of foreclosure proceedings; land bank; powers.

(1)(a) At any sale of real property conducted as part of foreclosure proceedings under sections 77-1901 to 77-1941, a land bank may:

(i) Bid on such real property in an amount that the land bank would be willing to pay for such real property. If a bid is given pursuant to this subdivision, the bid shall not receive any special treatment by the sheriff conducting the sale and shall be accepted or rejected in the same manner as any other bid on such real property; or

(ii) If a land bank is created by a city of the metropolitan class that borders a county in which at least three cities of the first class are located and if approved by a two-thirds vote of the board, give an automatically accepted bid on such real property in an amount equal to the total amount of taxes, interest, and costs due on the real property. If an automatically accepted bid is given, it shall be accepted by the sheriff regardless of any other bids on such real property. An automatically accepted bid may be given only if the conditions for making such a bid prescribed by the board pursuant to subsection (11) of section 18-3405 have been met and only if the land bank has obtained written consent to the tender of an automatically accepted bid from the holder of a mortgage or the beneficiary or trustee under a trust deed giving rise to a lien against such real property. To obtain such written consent, the land bank shall send, by certified mail, a notice of its intent to make an automatically accepted bid to any such holder of a mortgage or beneficiary or trustee under a trust deed and shall request that written consent be given within thirty days. If no response is given within such thirty-day time period, such holder of a mortgage or beneficiary or trustee under a trust deed shall be deemed to have given written consent.

(b) If a land bank's bid pursuant to subdivision (1)(a) of this section is accepted by the sheriff, the land bank shall pay the sheriff and shall be entitled to a deed to the real property in accordance with sections 77-1901 to 77-1941.

(2) If a sheriff attempts to sell real property as part of foreclosure proceedings under sections 77-1901 to 77-1941, there is no bid given at such sale equal to the total amount of taxes, interest, and costs due thereon, and the real property being sold lies within a municipality that has created a land bank, then such land bank shall be deemed to have bid the total amount of taxes, interest, and costs due thereon and such bid shall be accepted by the sheriff. The land bank may then discharge and extinguish the liens for delinquent taxes included in the foreclosure proceedings pursuant to section 18-3416. The land bank shall then be entitled to a deed to the real property in accordance with sections 77-1901 to 77-1941. If the acquisition of real property under this subsection would result in a land bank exceeding the total number of parcels that a land bank may hold legal title to pursuant to subsection (6) of section 18-3408, the acquisition of such property shall not be counted towards such limit.

Source:Laws 2013, LB97, § 18; R.S.Supp.,2018, § 19-5218; Laws 2020, LB424, § 18.