MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Ways and Means

By: Representative Tullos

House Bill 797

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 85-3-21, 85-3-23, 85-3-27, 85-3-31, 85-3-35 AND 85-3-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF LAND THAT MAY BE INCLUDED IN THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FOR PURPOSES OF PROPERTY THAT MAY BE EXEMPTED FROM SEIZURE OR SALE UNDER EXECUTION OR ATTACHMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 85-3-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF A MOBILE HOME, TRAILER, MANUFACTURED HOUSING, OR SIMILAR TYPE DWELLING OWNED AND OCCUPIED AS THE PRIMARY RESIDENCE BY A DEBTOR, THAT MAY BE EXEMPTED FROM SEIZURE UNDER EXECUTION OR ATTACHMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 85-3-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-21.  Every citizen of this state, male or female, being a householder shall be entitled to hold exempt from seizure or sale, under execution or attachment, the land and buildings owned and occupied as a residence by him, or her, but the quantity of land shall not exceed one hundred sixty (160) acres, nor the value thereof, inclusive of improvements, save as hereinafter provided, the sum of * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00); provided, however, that in determining this value, existing encumbrances on such land and buildings, including taxes and all other liens, shall first be deducted from the actual value of such land and buildings.  But husband or wife, widower or widow, over sixty (60) years of age, who has been an exemptionist under this section, shall not be deprived of such exemption because of not residing therein.

     SECTION 2.  Section 85-3-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-23.  Every citizen of this state, male or female, being a householder shall be entitled to hold exempt from seizure or sale under execution or attachment the land and buildings owned and occupied as a residence by such person, also the proceeds of any insurance, fire or otherwise, on any such buildings destroyed or damaged by fire, tornado or otherwise, not to exceed in value, save as hereinafter provided, * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), and personal property to be selected by him or her not to exceed in value Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) or the articles specified as exempt to the head of a family; provided, however, that no sum or amount due, or to become due such person, nor any part thereof, for or on account of wages, salaries or commissions, shall in any proceedings be selected or claimed as exempt under this section.  But husband or wife, widower or widow, over sixty (60) years of age, who has been an exemptionist under this section, shall not be deprived of such exemption because of not residing therein.

     SECTION 3.  Section 85-3-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-27.  The declaration, for not more than one hundred sixty (160) acres, and not exceeding in value * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00); or, if the homestead be in a city, town or village, not exceeding in value * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) after being filed for record, shall be notice to all persons to be affected thereby; and shall bind the exemptionist, the spouse of the exemptionist if the exemptionist be married, and the creditors of the exemptionist until the exemptionist shall execute and file a new declaration which shall nullify the preceding one, and otherwise have like effect; and shall moreover entitle the exemptionist thereafter to hold the same as exempt to the extent of such value; but subject to contest and legal designation or allotment, if the exemptionist had declared for too much, or has insufficiently or improperly described the premises; and to contest by creditors on the ground that the exemptionist was not entitled to a homestead, and by the spouse of the exemptionist on the ground that it was intended to defraud or circumvent such spouse.

     SECTION 4.  Section 85-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-31.  The homestead of every citizen entitled to such an exemption who shall not select or who has improperly selected his homestead by declaration, shall be, namely:  A tract of land in the form of, first, a square, or second, a parallelogram, if practicable, and composed, if practicable, of contiguous parcels, and including the dwelling house, and, if practicable, the other principal buildings, and not to exceed one hundred sixty (160) acres in area, nor * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in value.  And in all cases where the homestead may be composed of detached parcels of land, it shall be made up of those nearest the forty (40) acre or other less tract containing the dwelling house.

     SECTION 5.  Section 85-3-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-35.  If the land on which the person claiming the exemption resides exceeds one hundred sixty (160) acres in quantity or * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in value, inclusive of improvements, and a proper selection of a homestead has not been made and filed for record, the officer holding an execution against such persons, and not finding other property to satisfy the same, shall levy the execution on the whole land, and shall notify the defendant, if to be found, and the plaintiff or his attorney, if in his county, each to select one (1) householder or freeholder; and each party may select one (1), and inform the officer of his selection, and the officer shall select a third; or, if defendant or plaintiff or his attorney be absent from the county, or if he shall not make a selection, or if the person selected will not act, the officer shall select the three (3) householders or freeholders, who, on oath to be administered by him, shall set off to such person a portion of the land, embracing the dwelling house and outhouses and not exceeding one hundred sixty (160) acres in quantity nor * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in value, and the allotment, distinctly indicated by metes and bounds or other sufficient description, shall be returned with the execution; and the levy of the execution shall be dismissed as to the part so allotted; and the officer may advertise and sell the remainder of the land.  In making such allotment, the homestead shall be laid off as designated by law in case of the debtor's failure to select his homestead and file his declaration thereof for record.

     SECTION 6.  Section 85-3-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-37.  If the premises be not capable of being so divided as to set off the debtor a part, including the dwelling house and not exceeding * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in value, inclusive of improvements, or if the debtor has made a valid homestead declaration, and the homestead exceeds * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) in value, the householders or freeholders shall value the land, inclusive of the dwelling house and buildings; and if the surplus of the valuation, over and above the exempt value, shall, within sixty (60) days, be paid by the execution-debtor, the premises shall not be sold; but if the surplus be not paid within sixty (60) days after the valuation, the officer may advertise and sell the premises, if the same shall bring a greater sum than the exempt value; and out of the proceeds of the sale he shall pay to the execution-debtor the sum of * * *Seventy‑five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00).

     SECTION 7.  Section 85-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     85-3-1.  There shall be exempt from seizure under execution or attachment:

          (a)  Tangible personal property of the following kinds selected by the debtor, not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) in cumulative value:

              (i)  Household goods, wearing apparel, books, animals or crops;

              (ii)  Motor vehicles;

              (iii)  Implements, professional books or tools of the trade;

              (iv)  Cash on hand;

              (v)  Professionally prescribed health aids;

              (vi)  Any items of tangible personal property worth less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) each.

     Household goods, as used in this paragraph (a), means clothing, furniture, appliances, one (1) radio and one (1) television, one (1) firearm, one (1) lawn mower, linens, china, crockery, kitchenware, and personal effects (including wedding rings) of the debtor and his dependents; however, works of art, electronic entertainment equipment (except one (1) television and one (1) radio), jewelry (other than wedding rings), and items acquired as antiques are not included within the scope of the term "household goods."  This paragraph (a) shall not apply to distress warrants issued for collection of taxes due the state or to wages described in Section 85-3-4.

          (b)  (i)  The proceeds of insurance on property, real and personal, exempt from execution or attachment, and the proceeds of the sale of such property.

              (ii)  Income from disability insurance.

          (c)  All property in this state, real, personal and mixed, for the satisfaction of a judgment or claim in favor of another state or political subdivision of another state for failure to pay that state's or that political subdivision's income tax on benefits received from a pension or other retirement plan.  As used in this paragraph (c), "pension or other retirement plan" includes:

              (i)  An annuity, pension, or profit-sharing or stock bonus or similar plan established to provide retirement benefits for an officer or employee of a public or private employer or for a self-employed individual;

              (ii)  An annuity, pension, or military retirement pay plan or other retirement plan administered by the United States; and

              (iii)  An individual retirement account.

          (d)  One (1) mobile home, trailer, manufactured housing, or similar type dwelling owned and occupied as the primary residence by the debtor, not exceeding a value of * * *Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00) Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00); in determining this value, existing encumbrances on the dwelling, including taxes and all other liens, shall first be deducted from the actual value of the dwelling.  A debtor is not entitled to the exemption of a mobile home as personal property who claims a homestead exemption under Section 85-3-21, and the exemption shall not apply to collection of delinquent taxes under Sections 27-41-101 through 27-41-109.

          (e)  Assets held in, or monies payable to the participant or beneficiary from, whether vested or not, (i) a pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus or similar plan or contract established to provide retirement benefits for the participant or beneficiary and qualified under Section 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), including a retirement plan for self-employed individuals qualified under one (1) of such enumerated sections, (ii) an eligible deferred compensation plan described in Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), or (iii) an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity within the meaning of Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), including a simplified employee pension plan.

          (f)  Monies paid into or, to the extent payments out are applied to tuition or other qualified higher education expenses at eligible educational institutions, as defined in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code or corresponding provisions of any successor law, monies paid out of the assets of and the income from any validly existing qualified tuition program authorized under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code or corresponding provisions of any successor law, including, but not limited to, the Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (MPACT) Program established under Sections 37-155-1 through 37-155-27 and the Mississippi Affordable College Savings (MACS) Program established under Sections 37-155-101 through 37-155-125.

          (g)  The assets of a health savings account, including any interest accrued thereon, established pursuant to a health savings account program as provided in the Health Savings Accounts Act (Sections 83-62-1 through 83-62-9).

          (h)  In addition to all other exemptions listed in this section, there shall be an additional exemption of property having a value of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) of whatever type, whether real, personal or mixed, tangible or intangible, including deposits of money, available to any Mississippi resident who is seventy (70) years of age or older.

          (i)  An amount not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) of earned income tax credit proceeds.

          (j)  An amount not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) of federal tax refund proceeds.

          (k)  An amount not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) of state tax refund proceeds.

          (l)  Subject to the provisions of Section 27-7-1003(2), the assets of a catastrophe savings account, including any interest accrued thereon, established under Sections 27-7-1001 through 27-7-1007.

          (m)  Nothing in this section shall in any way affect the rights or remedies of the holder or owner of a statutory lien or voluntary security interest.

     SECTION 8.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.