(A) (1) Where the city is required by statute, rule, regulation or ordinance to send a notice to an owner of real property for the purpose of enforcing a municipal ordinance, the city may include the following statement in the notice:
“According to the real property records of Galveston County, you own the real property described in this notice. If you no longer own the property, you must execute an affidavit stating that you no longer own the property and stating the name and last known address of the person who acquired the property from you. The affidavit must be delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to this office not later than the 20th day after the date you received this notice. If you do not send the affidavit, it will be presumed that you own the property described in this notice, even if you do not.”
(2) The notice must be delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
(B) If the city sends a notice to the owner of the property to which the notice relates, as shown on or after the tenth day before the date notice is sent by the real property records of the county, and the record owner no longer owns the property, the record owner shall execute an affidavit provided with the notice by the city, stating:
(1) The record owner no longer owns the property; and
(2) The name and last known address of the person who acquired the property from the record owner.
(C) The record owner shall deliver the affidavit in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the city not later than the twentieth day after the date the record owner receives the notice.
(D) If the city receives an affidavit under division (C) above, the city shall send the appropriate notice to the person named in the affidavit as having acquired the property. A notice sent under this division (D) must include the statement authorized by division (A) above.
(E) If the city receives an affidavit under division (C) above, it shall:
(1) Maintain the affidavit on file for at least two years after the date the entity receives the affidavit; and
(2) Deliver a copy of the affidavit to the chief appraiser of the County Central Appraisal District.
(F) The city is considered to have provided notice to a property owner if the city complies with the statute, rule, regulation or ordinance under which the notice is sent and if it:
(1) Complies with division (A) above and does not have an affidavit from the record owner; or
(2) Complies with division (D) above and does not receive an affidavit from the person to whom the notice was sent under division (D) above.
(G) If the city complies with this section and does not receive an affidavit under division (C) above, the record owner is presumed to be the owner of the property for all purposes to which the notice relates.
(H) For the purposes of this section, “real property” does not include a mineral interest or royalty interest.
(1998 Code, § 22-302) (Ord. 04-35, passed 9-1-2004)