SB 973 revises Missouri’s laws governing the collection of delinquent real estate taxes and the disposition of tax-delinquent property. The bill repeals and reenacts numerous sections in Chapters 140 and 141 to create a new framework for counties and municipalities to establish land bank agencies, while also preserving and modifying the existing land tax foreclosure process. It authorizes counties and municipalities meeting population thresholds to create land banks, defines their powers, sets board structure and ethics rules, requires public inventories and audits, and permits land banks to acquire, hold, improve, lease, and sell property for productive use or public benefit.
The bill also changes tax sale procedures, notice requirements, redemption timelines, and bidding rules. It allows “partial opt-in” counties to use the land tax collection law for selected parcels, adds restrictions on who may bid at tax sales, and gives land banks and land trusts special bidding and crediting rules when properties are sold to them. In addition, SB 973 adds new consumer-protection provisions for residential real estate wholesaling and sale-leaseback transactions, requiring disclosures, waiting periods, and enforcement by the attorney general, with violations treated as unlawful practices and subject to civil penalties and private rights of action.
SB 973 would substantially alter Missouri property-tax foreclosure and land-reuse statutes by repealing and replacing many provisions in Chapters 140 and 141 and adding new sections in Chapters 407 and 442. It expands the legal authority for land banks, clarifies how tax-delinquent property can be transferred, sold, or returned to productive use, and changes how tax liens, redemption rights, notices, and sale proceeds are handled. It also creates new regulatory requirements for wholesalers and sale-leaseback transactions involving residential real estate, adding disclosure obligations, enforcement authority, and remedies for affected homeowners and sellers.
The bill appears to have broad legislative support, as reflected by strong Senate and House votes and unanimous or near-unanimous conference committee adoption. The voting pattern suggests the measure was generally viewed favorably as a comprehensive real estate and land-bank reform package. The lack of committee transcript material limits insight into detailed debate, but the final votes indicate the bill was not highly controversial overall, even though some House and Senate members voted no at earlier stages.
The main points of contention likely centered on the bill’s extensive restructuring of tax foreclosure procedures, the expanded role of land banks and land trusts, and the new restrictions on bidders and property owners in delinquent-tax sales. Potential concerns include the bill’s impact on property rights, notice and due-process protections, the ability of local governments to acquire and dispose of property, and the consumer-protection rules for wholesalers and sale-leaseback deals. The presence of dissenting votes in the House and Senate suggests some lawmakers objected to parts of the package, but the available record does not identify specific arguments or sponsors of those objections.