Any taxing district may before or after return of a claim to the bureau, but before such claim shall become absolute on its own motion, strike off the name of any defendant in any claim filed, and may substitute as a defendant any person who may have an interest in the property as owner, or who is the personal representative of an owner who has died, but such substitution shall always be without prejudice to any intervening rights, and in such cases notice of the proposed substitution shall first be given by the taxing district to all parties in interest.