§11A-3-46. Publication of notice of auction.

(a) Once a week for three consecutive weeks prior to the auction required in §11A-3-45 of this code, the Auditor shall publish notice of the auction as a Class III-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et seq. of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county.

The notice shall be in form or effect as follows:

Notice is hereby given that the following described tracts or lots of land in the County of ____________________, have been certified by the Auditor of the State of West Virginia, for sale at public auction. The lands will be offered for sale by the undersigned Auditor at public auction in (specify location) the courthouse of ____________________ County between the hours of ____________________ in the morning and__________in the afternoon, on the ____________________ day of ____________________, 20__________.

Each tract or lot as described below will be sold to the highest eligible bidder at the auction. The payment for any tract or lot purchased at a sale shall be made by check or money order payable to the Auditor and delivered before the close of business on the day of the sale. If any of said tracts or lots remain unsold following the auction, they will be subject to later sale without additional advertising or public auction. All potential bidders must register in advance of the auction with the Auditor’s office. Citizens of or entities organized in or controlled by citizens of any country designated as a Country of Particular Concern by the Department of State of the United States of America are ineligible from participating in the auction held pursuant to this section. Bidding at the auction constitutes transacting business in this state for purposes of §31B-10-1001 et seq., §31D-15-1501 et seq., and §31E-14-1401 et seq. of this code. The Auditor’s sale may include tracts or lots remaining unsold from a previous auction not required by law to be readvertised and described for this subsequent auction of those same tracts and lots. All sales are subject to the approval of the Auditor of the State of West Virginia.

(here insert description of advertised lands to be sold)

Any of the aforesaid tracts or lots may be redeemed by any person entitled to pay the taxes thereon, the owner of the same whose interest is not subject to separate assessment, or any person having a lien on the same, or on an undivided interest therein, at any time prior to the sale by payment to the Auditor of the total amount of taxes, interest, and charges due thereon up to the date of redemption. Lands listed above as escheated or waste and unappropriated lands may not be redeemed.

Given under my hand this ____________________ day of ____________________, 20__________.

____________________ Auditor of the State of West Virginia.

(b) The description of lands required in the notice shall be in the same form as the list certifying said lands for sale. If the Auditor is required to auction lands certified to him or her in any previous years, pursuant to §11A-3-48 of this code, he or she shall include such lands in the auction without further advertisement, with reference to the year of certification and the item number of the tract or interest.

(c) To cover the cost of preparing and publishing the notice, a charge of $30 shall be added to the taxes, interest, and charges due on the delinquent and nonentered property.