823.115.Sale of property and use of proceeds.

Section 823.115 picks up where s. 823.114 leaves off, handling the mechanics of sale once real and personal property have been ordered sold and the real property has not been released to the owner under s. 823.15. The plaintiff in the underlying s. 823.113 action sells the property at the highest available price, and a city, town, or village plaintiff may choose either a public or private sale. Proceeds first go to pay the costs of the action and abatement and any liens on the property, with any balance distributed as the section describes next.

The plaintiff can also file a notice of the action’s pendency the way parties do in actions affecting title to real estate. If the owner of the building or structure, or of the underlying land, is found guilty of the nuisance, any unpaid judgment for costs becomes a lien on the real estate, ranking ahead of other liens created after the lis pendens was filed, except for certain liens under s. 292.31 (8) (i) or s. 292.81.

Any balance left after paying costs and liens is split into equal shares among three recipients: the law enforcement agency of the city, town, or village that brought the action, for gang-related and drug-related law enforcement activities; that municipality’s treasurer, for a fund providing grants for gang abatement and drug and alcohol treatment programs; and that same treasurer, for a separate fund providing grants for housing rehabilitation, neighborhood revitalization, and neighborhood crime prevention.