Sale and conveyance of property to satisfy rates

(1) If after legal proceedings have been taken under section 24 the costs of the proceedings and the amount of the rate due and recoverable cannot be raised by the sale of the goods and chattels of the owner of the property in respect of which the rate or any portion thereof is due but remains unpaid, the magistrate before whom recovery of such rate was sought or some person appointed by him shall, upon being required in writing to do so by the local authority in question, sell either the whole of such property or such part thereof as in his discretion may be selected and marked off by him as sufficient to realize the required amount. (2) All sales under this section shall be by public auction at such time and in such manner as the magistrate in charge of the sale may think fit, and a reserve price shall be fixed consisting 26 of the entire amount of the rates due at the time of the sale in respect of the property sold, and the costs and expenses of all proceedings attending the recovery thereof, including those of the sale. (3) Should the bid of the highest bidder reach the amount of the reserve price, such highest bidder shall be declared the purchaser. (4) On payment by the purchaser of the purchase money, the magistrate in charge of the sale shall execute a conveyance of the property sold and disposed of to the purchaser in the form in the Second Schedule and such conveyance when signed and recorded in the manner required by law shall, if the provisions of this Act necessary to authorise such sale have been complied with, operate to confer on the purchaser an indefeasible title to such property free from all encumbrances, fraud excepted. (5) If a part only of the property, in respect of which the rate or any portion thereof is payable but remains unpaid, is offered for sale, and there is no bid for it equal to or in excess of the reserve price, the magistrate in charge of the sale shall put up for sale in the manner before provided a larger part or the whole of such property as he may in his discretion think necessary to realize the required amount. (6) In the event of the whole of such property being offered for sale and there being no bid for it equal to or in excess of the reserve price, then such property shall vest in the State for the use of the district in which it is situate, and the magistrate shall issue a warrant containing a written statement of the particulars of such land and the name, so far as it is known to him, of the owner thereof and the date or dates of such abortive sale or sales, and shall cause it to be recorded in the General Registry in the manner provided by law, and on being so recorded such warrant shall, if the provisions of this Act necessary to authorise such sale have been complied with, constitute an 27 indefeasible title in the State, free from all encumbrances, fraud excepted. (7) Notwithstanding anything contained in the General Registry Act, Cap. 327 the Registrar General may receive without proof of execution, and record, any document purporting to be signed by a magistrate under this section. (8) When the proceeds from any sale exceed the amount of the entire rate due as aforesaid, and the costs and expenses of all proceedings attending the recovery thereof (including those of the sale), the surplus shall, when arising from the sale of property, be paid to the local authority of the town in which such property is situate, and shall on demand be paid over to such person as proves himself to the satisfaction of the local authority to be entitled thereto. (9) Should any difficulty arise in ascertaining the person entitled to any such surplus proceeds of sale paid to a local authority on account of the disability of the person entitled, or the existence of trusts or settlements or other complication, such surplus may be paid into the Supreme Court to abide any order or direction of that Court, Provided that after the expiration of seven years to be computed from the day of the sale, such surplus, if unpaid, shall be appropriated to the funds of the local authority in