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9710-9715 Notice of Purchase by Agreement: Publishing Criteria

9710. MANNER AND PERIOD OF PUBLICATION
The notice of agreement to purchase must be published twenty-one (21) days before the effective sale date. (Rev. & Tax. Code §3798). The publishing schedule shall be once a week, in a newspaper of general circulation, for three successive weeks with at least five days intervening between respective publication dates. The period of notice commences on the first day of publication and terminates on the twenty-first day (Gov. Code §6063).

9711. PUBLICATION IN MORE THAN ONE EDITION
If more than one edition is printed on the days of publication, the notice must appear in each edition (Attorney General Opinion 1-12-55).

9712. ERRORS IN PUBLICATION
If there is an error in the first publication, a correction in the remaining publications will not validate the notice, because the law requires three correct publications (Rev. & Tax. Code §3798; Gov. Code §6063). The error may be corrected without changing the sale date if time permits republication of the first notice prior to the 21-day statutory deadline (M-9715). To eliminate errors in publication, proof sheets should be obtained from the newspapers prior to publication.

If the sale date must be changed due to a publication error, a notice must be mailed to the last assessee, informing him/her of the new sale date. See M-8361 for mailed notice requirements.

9713. POSTING OF NOTICE IF NO PUBLICATION
If a newspaper of general circulation, as defined in Government Code section 6000 et seq., does not exist within the county (Rev. & Tax. Code §3798), or if, in the judgment of the board of supervisors, the property will bring less than the cost of publication (Rev. & Tax. Code §3798.1), the notice may be posted in three public places in the county rather than published.

The requirements for the content of the posted notice are the same as those for the content of the published notice. Use the format in Figure 9.7a or 9.7b for posting and form SCO 9-04 for the affidavit of posting.

9714. COST OF NOTICE
Any costs incurred for giving notice shall be paid by the purchasing agency (Rev. & Tax. Code §3800). See M-8334 for a discussion of the payment of the cost of giving notice.

9715. SETTING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AGREEMENT
The agreement becomes effective at 5:01 pm on the 21st day after the first publication (Rev. & Tax. Code §3802). If there is an error in the publication (M-9712) and the statutory deadlines have not been met, the effective date of the agreement must be rescheduled and new notices published.