9CPayment by Minister a charge on the land

9C Payment by Minister a charge on the land

[Section 9C Inserted by No. 61 of 1972, s. 2 ]

(1)  Any money paid on account of insurance as provided by subsection (2) of section nine A, together with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent per annum, shall be a charge on the land on which the dwelling-house, in respect of which the payment is made, is erected.

(2)  A charge on land under this section may be enforced –

(a) against the owner of the land for the time being by action in any court of competent jurisdiction as for a debt due and payable to the Crown; or

(b) against the land, by sale.

(3)  Where the Minister desires to enforce the charge afforded by this section against the land (either when the charge arises or when any of the events set out in subsection (6) of this section has occurred) he shall make application to the Sheriff to sell the land whereupon the Sheriff shall, in relation to the land on which the dwelling-house in respect of which the application is made is erected –

(a) fix a convenient time (being not more than six months and not less than three months from the date of the application) and a convenient place for the sale;

(b) give such notice of the sale as he may deem sufficient by advertisement in the Gazette and in a newspaper;

(c) make such searches against the land and give such notice (if any) as he may deem reasonable or practicable to any person who appears to be interested in the land; and

(d) sell the land as if he held the land upon trust to sell it, and to receive the proceeds of sale, and after paying and retaining thereout the costs and expenses of the sale to stand possessed of the residue of the proceeds in trust for the person entitled thereto.

(4)  In respect of a sale pursuant to this section, the Sheriff, and his servants and agents in that behalf, shall incur no greater liability than would be the case if the sale had been made pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(5)  Where the Minister consents to a transfer of land the subject of a notification under this section, the provisions of shall apply in all respects as if the money secured by the notification under this section was money secured by a notification under which section shall be complied with accordingly.