79Amount due to Secretary is a charge on land

79 Amount due to Secretary is a charge on land (1) If— S. 79(1)(a) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t). (a) an agreement specifies an amount to be repaid by the land owner to the Secretary; or S. 79(1)(b) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t). (b) an agreement specifies an amount that becomes due to the Secretary upon default of the land owner and the land owner is in default under the agreement; or (c) an amount is awarded against a land owner as damages for breach— that amount is until recovered a charge on the land of the land owner. S. 79(2) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t), substituted by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.8) (as amended by No. 76/1998 s. 15). (2) Land is so charged when the Secretary deposits with the Registrar of Titles a certificate under seal describing the land to be charged and stating the amount of the charge. S. 79(3) repealed by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.9). S. 79(4) amended by No. 18/1989 s. 13(Sch. 2 item 18(e)). (4) The Registrar of Titles must make in the Register a recording of the certificate lodged under this section. S. 79(5) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t). (5) The Secretary must notify the land owner in writing that— (a) its certificate has been deposited under this section; and (b) the land is charged with the amount stated in the notice. S. 79(6) amended by Nos 18/1989 s. 13(Sch. 2 item 18(f)), 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t), substituted by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.10) (as amended by No. 76/1998 s. 15). (6) When an amount due is paid or recovered the Registrar of Titles must, if so required by the Secretary, delete the recording of the charge from the Register or make a recording in the Register of the payment or recovery of the charge. S. 79(7) amended by Nos 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t), 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.11). (7) If— (a) a charge under this section has been registered over land for at least 12 months; and (b) an amount is owing under the charge; and S. 79(7)(c) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t). (c) the Secretary— (i) has attempted, but has failed to recover the amount owing under the charge; or (ii) has made the prescribed inquiries (if any) and all reasonable attempts to locate the land owner and believes that the land owner cannot be found— the Secretary may serve a notice of intention to sell the land. (8) A notice under subsection (7) must— (a) be in writing in the prescribed form; and (b) be served by— (i) displaying a copy of the notice on the land of the land owner not less than one month before the intended sale; and (ii) publishing a copy of the notice once in a newspaper circulating generally in the area in which the land is located and once in a newspaper circulating generally in the municipal district of the Melbourne City Council, not less than one month before the intended sale. S. 79(8A) inserted by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.12). (8A) If the land to be sold is not under the **Transfer of Land Act 1958**, it must be brought under that Act before it is sold. S. 79(9) amended by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.13). (9) Section 77 of the **Transfer of Land Act 1958** applies to the sale as if— (a) the charge were a registered first mortgage, registered in priority to other registered encumbrances; and S. 79(9)(b) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t). (b) the Secretary were a mortgagee under that mortgage; and (c) the requirement relating to the giving of notice were deleted. S. 79(10) amended by No. 76/1998 s. 3(1)(t), repealed by No. 85/1998 s. 24(Sch. item 12.14). S. 79(11) inserted by No. 35/1998 s. 13(10). (11) This section does not apply in relation to vested land within the meaning of the **Victorian Plantations Corporation Act 1993**.