First Bank & Trust Co. v. City of Providence

A statute, G.L.1956 § 44-9-l(b), provides that, three years after a municipality assesses a tax on property for a given tax year, the municipal tax lien created by the assessment “shall terminate” upon the recorded alienation of the real estate subject to the lien. Nevertheless, by their decision in this case, two members of this Court have carved out a judicial exception to the statute by holding that a recorded alienation of the real estate will not terminate the tax lien if the municipality has begun the process of putting the property up for tax sale when the recorded alienation occurs.…