(a) When a tax deed to a purchaser of property sold by the tax collector pursuant to this part is recorded and it is determined that the property should not have been sold, the sale may be rescinded by the board of supervisors with the written consent of the county legal adviser and the purchaser of the property under any of the following circumstances: (1) The property has not been transferred or conveyed by the purchaser at the tax sale to a bona fide purchaser for value. (2) The property has not become subject to a bona fide encumbrance for value subsequent to the recordation of the tax deed. (b) When the sale of tax-defaulted property is rescinded pursuant to subdivision (a), the purchaser is entitled to a refund of the amount paid as the purchase price after the purchaser executes a recision of the tax deed. The recision shall also be executed by the county tax collector. The signatures of the purchaser and the county tax collector shall be acknowledged by the county clerk, without charge, and the county tax collector shall then record the recision with the county recorder, without charge. When the recision is recorded, the tax deed becomes null and void as though never issued and all provisions of law relating to tax-defaulted property shall apply to the property. (c) The holder of a tax certificate who received all or any part of the amount paid by the purchaser shall not be obligated to make any refund or repayment of any amount to the purchaser, the delinquent taxpayer, the county, or any other person. The tax collector may use amounts on deposit in the Tax Certificate Redemption Fund to make the refund, but only to the extent those amounts were paid to the holder of the applicable tax certificate.
