20Postponement of certain payments

20 Postponement of certain payments

(1) Subject to this Division, where a national serviceman, or a female dependant of a national serviceman, is liable to pay the principal money secured by a mortgage, or the purchase money under an agreement for the purchase of land, and that liability arose before the date that is the moratorium date in relation to the national serviceman or female dependant, the time (including any time past) for payment of the principal money or purchase money is, by force of this section, postponed in accordance with this section. (2) The time for payment is postponed so that the payment falls due upon the expiration of:

(a) the period immediately following the date on which the national serviceman completes his national service equal to the period of that service; or

(b) the period of twelve months immediately following that date;

whichever is the shorter. (3) If the person liable to pay the principal or purchase money is a national serviceman or a female dependant of a national serviceman and the national serviceman dies before he completes his national service, the time for payment is postponed so that the payment falls due upon the expiration of the period of twelve months immediately following the date of his death. (4) If the person liable to pay the principal or purchase money is a female dependant of a national serviceman, and she dies before the national serviceman completes his national service, the postponement ceases at the expiration of twelve months after her death, unless, in the meantime, the national serviceman becomes liable to pay the principal or purchase money, in which case the time for payment is postponed in accordance with subsection (2) or subsection (3) of this section, as the case may be. (5) Where, under any mortgage or agreement to which this section applies, the principal or purchase money is to be repaid or paid by instalments, the time for payment of the earliest unpaid instalment is postponed in accordance with this section and the time for payment of each subsequent instalment is postponed for a period equal to the period of postponement of the first‑mentioned instalment. (6) Where a national serviceman or a female dependant of a national serviceman is liable to pay the principal money secured by a mortgage but is not the owner of the land subject to the mortgage, the postponement effected by this section applies only in relation to the liability of that national serviceman or female dependant, and where a national serviceman or female dependant of a national serviceman is liable to pay the principal money secured by a mortgage and is the owner of the land subject to the mortgage but ceases to be the owner before the postponement effected by this section ceases, the postponement thereupon applies only in relation to the liability of that national serviceman or female dependant. (7) Where a payment includes interest as well as principal, and the rate of interest is not ascertainable from the mortgage or agreement, or the mortgage or agreement does not indicate what parts of the payment are principal and interest respectively, then, for the purposes of this section, the rate of interest shall be deemed to be the rate ascertained in accordance with the regulations. (8) Where a mortgagee: