P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 5101
Should any person fail or refuse to pay the property taxes within the terms established in this part, the Collection Center or its authorized representative will proceed to collect the overdue taxes through an attachment and sale of the property of said debtor in the manner prescribed below.
Every debtor whose assets have been attached for the collection of taxes may appeal before the Court of First Instance within the term fixed in the notice of attachment and obtain the cancellation of the attachment unless the Collection Center proves it had sufficient legal grounds to perform the attachment at the hearing set by the court to that effect.
If no real property or real rights belonging to the debtor are found on which a preventive embargo can be recorded in order to ensure the payment of the tax, the Collection Center will require the person who holds any property, property rights, credits or money payable to the taxpayer, including salaries or bank deposits belonging to or payable to the taxpayer, not exempted from attachment, to withhold from such assets or rights the amounts informed to him/her by the Collection Center in order to cover the unpaid tax debt prior to filing the corresponding legal action and pursuant to the legal provisions in effect.
The notice and requirement made by the Collection Center to the person in possession of the assets, properties or any obligation to pay the taxpayer sums of money for whatever reason, excluding salaries, shall constitute a prior lien on such assets or rights that the depositary is bound to retain until the Collection Center is paid what it is owed. Any depositary who disposes of or allows such assets or rights to be disposed of shall be bound to pay the total amount of the value of the assets. He/She shall also be bound to pay a special penalty amounting to fifty percent (50%) of the unpaid tax. The amount of such a special penalty may not be credited towards the payment of the tax debt. The person withholding such assets, rights or properties shall not incur any obligation with an order to that effect from the Collection Center.
Notwithstanding the above provisions, the Collection Center may postpone the sale of real property which is subject to such a procedure due to a tax debt belonging to elderly taxpayers or to those who are stricken by any illness which is terminal or permanently disabling, and who produce a medical certificate to that effect, and under the following circumstances:
(a) Should it be the only real property and permanent dwelling of the taxpayer, and
(b) should the taxpayer not have enough assets or income to pay the total tax debt, nor should it be possible for him/her to avail him/her of a payment plan.
This provision shall neither apply to the heirs nor to the taxpayer once the illness or condition for which the sale of the property in question was postponed has ceased.
The term established in § 2468 of Title 30 for the cancellation of the filings of writs of attachment for taxes shall be suspended until the death of the taxpayer or until the condition that caused the postponement of the sale of the real property has ceased.
The Collection Center shall adopt the necessary rules and regulations to postpone the sale of the real property of the debtor in the cases provided in the preceding paragraph of this section, including the definition of the term “elderly” and the criteria to determine whether a taxpayer does not have sufficient assets or income for the total payment or for a payment plan, pursuant to the experience of the Collection Center and the procedures and terms for requesting and decreeing the postponement of the sale of a property due to the previously established conditions.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 83, § 4.01.