A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to help municipalities collect delinquent property taxes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 161‑31 reads as rewritten:
"§ 161‑31.  Tax certification.
(a)	Tax Certification. – The board of commissioners of a county may, by resolution, require the register of deeds not to accept any deed transferring real property for registration unless the county tax collector has certified all of the following:
(1)	That no delinquent ad valorem county taxes are a lien on the property described in the deed.
(2)	That no delinquent ad valorem municipal taxes are a lien on the property described in the deed. If a county tax collector is not charged with collecting ad valorem municipal taxes for a municipality in the county, then the resolution shall direct how the county tax collector is to receive the certification from the tax collector charged with collecting ad valorem municipal taxes.
(3)	That no other taxes with which the collector is charged are a lien on the property described in the deed.
The county commissioners may describe the form the certification must take in its resolution.
(a1)	Exception to Tax Certification. – If a board of county commissioners adopts a resolution pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, notwithstanding the resolution, the register of deeds shall accept without certification a deed submitted for registration under the supervision of a closing attorney and containing this statement on the deed: "This instrument prepared by: ________, a licensed North Carolina attorney. Delinquent taxes, if any, to be paid by the closing attorney to the county tax collector upon disbursement of closing proceeds."
(b)	Applicability. – This section applies only to Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Catawba, Cherokee, Chowan, Clay, Cleveland, Columbus, Currituck, Dare, Davidson, Davie, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Gates, Graham, Granville, Greene, Halifax, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Iredell, Jackson, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, Martin, McDowell, Montgomery, Nash, Northampton, Onslow, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Polk, Randolph, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Sampson, Scotland, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson, Yadkin, and Yancey Counties."
SECTION 2.  This act applies to Edgecombe, Franklin, and Nash Counties only.
SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.