Chap. 439.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 2495 of the Code of Virginia
in relation to how lands sold for delinquent taxes and purchased in the name
of the Auditor or the Comptroller, may be purchased by other persons.

[S B 218]
Approved March 30, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
twenty-four hundred and ninety-five of the Code of Virginia be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 2495. When and how lands purchased in the name of the
Auditor or the Comptroller and unredeemed to be sold.

First. Application May Be Filed With Clerk For Its Purchase;
What Application Must State-——-When real estate so purchased in the
name of the Auditor or the Comptroller is not redeemed by the previ-
ous owner, his heirs, or assigns, or some person having the right to
charge the same with a debt, within two years from the date of such
purchase, any person desiring to purchase it shall file an application
with the clerk of the circuit court of the county or corporation court
of the city wherein it is situated, for the purchase of such real estate
for the amount for which it was purchased in the name of the Auditor
or the Comptroller, and the taxes and levies due the city, town or
county or district in which said land is situated, together with such
additional sums as would have accrued from taxes, levies and interest
if such real estate had not been so purchased, with interest on the
amount for which said sale was made at the rate of six per centum per
annum from the day of sale, and on the additional sums from the
fifteenth day of December in the year in which the same would have
accrued, in which application shall be set out the name of the person
in whose name the real estate stood at the date of the sale thereof and
the person in whose name such real estate stands at the date of such
application on the commissioner’s books of such county or corporation,
in the event that it has been transferred contrary to the provisions of
section twenty-two hundred and eighty-three, as well as the owner or
owners of such real estate as shown by the deed books and will books
of the clerk’s office of the county or city in which it is situated, or in
the clerk’s office of the chancery court of the city of Richmond, if the
property is situated in the city of Richmond, north of James river,
including the islands, but if south of said river, not including the
islands, in the clerk’s office of the hustings court, part II, of said city;
or if any of the said persons be dead, then the name of his personal
representatives and heirs, and the name of the trustees, mortgagees,
and beneficiaries as shown by the records in any deed of trust or
mortgage on said real estate, or their personal representative; and if
the names of the heirs of any such deceased person, or any of them,
shall be unknown to the applicant, such application shall so state, and
they may be proceeded against as unknown parties.

Second. What Application Need Not State-——The names of any
person may be omitted which do not appear of record in the clerk’s
office of the county or corporation in which the land is situated, and
if it be situated in the city of Richmond, which do not appear of
record in the clerk’s office of the chancery court of the said city, or if
the property in said city be situated in the former city of Manchester,
which do not appear of record in the proper registration books for
such city, as it formerly existed. The name of any trustee, mort-
gagee, or beneficiary in any deed of trust or mortgage which has been
recorded more than twenty years prior to the date of application may
be likewise omitted.

. Third. What to Be Done on Filing Application—At the time of
filing said application he shall pay to the clerk at least ten per centum
of the amount of the proposed purchase price of the said land; but
this deposit, which shall be first for purchase price and then for costs,
shall in no case be less than one dollar, and the clerk shall make out
as many copies of said application as there are names of persons
therein, with one additional copy, or more if necessary, and shall at
once deliver them to the sheriff or sergeant of the county or city in
which the land is situated, and the same shall be served on the parties
named therein in the same manner that process to commence a suit is
served, and similar return shall be made thereon by the officer serving
the same. If any of the persons named in the said application do not
reside in the county or city in which the land is situated, but are known
by the clerk to reside in some other county or city in the State of
Virginia, the clerk shall send copies of the said application to the
proper officer of the county or city wherein they reside, to be executed
upon such person. Said return shall be made within sixty days after
the issuing of the copy of the application. If the same be returned
not executed on any party therein named, other copies may be made
out and served as hereinbefore provided.

Fourth. When to Be Order of Publication—On affidavit that one
or more of the parties are non-residents of the State, or that diligence
has been used by or on behalf of the applicant to ascertain in what
county or corporation such persons are, without effect, or that a copy
of the application has been twice delivered to the proper officer of the
county or city in which he resides without being executed, or that the
names of other persons who may be interested in said real estate
are unknown, an order of publication may be entered by the clerk
against such parties. The order of publication shall not be a copy of
the application, but shall be in the following form, namely:

TD aseussanne me we : You are hereby notified that a tract (or lot)
of land (if more than one, state the number and describe the land
as it appears on the commissioner’s books) in ..................

Gistrith, sssadscansaacs ne county (if in a city or town, name the
city and ward), was sold on the ........ day of ..... ce eee eee ey
Mineteen ......... 0c. eee , for delinquent taxes, levies, interest and

costs to the Commonwealth of Virginia and application for the pur-
chase thereof has been filed in this office, and it appearing from the
records in this office that you are interested in said land, you are
further notified to appear in four months from the date of this notice,
and do what may be necessary to protect your interests.

Given under my hand this ........ Ga? GE sam we wa oe v0 oe wk a
TONGLCE peter ete ae oe we eee

Clerk ........... Court, Virginia.

It shall be published once a week for four successive weeks in a
newspaper published in such city or county, if there be one, to be
designated by the clerk, and if there be none, in such newspaper as
the clerk may direct, and shall be posted by the clerk at the front door
of the courthouse, of the county or city wherein the court is held on
the first day of the next circuit or corporation court after it is entered.

Fifth. Conditions Necessary to Give Applicant the Right to Pur-
chase; Consequences of Failure to Exercise Such Right.—If no person
who has a right to redeem the same at the time of the service of the
copies, or of the completion of the order of publication as aforesaid,
appear within four months after such copies have been so served or
published, as the case may be, and redeem said real estate by paying
to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or clerk of the corpora-
tion court of the city all taxes, levies, interest, penalties and costs there-
with connected, as well as all fees and costs attending the proceedings
under this section, including a penalty equal to ten per centum of the
amount for which said real estate is proposed to be purchased, provided
that such penalty be not less than two dollars nor more than five dollars,
which shall be paid to the applicant, together with such an amount as
the applicant had previously paid to the clerk at the time of making
such application, then the person who made the application shall have
a right to purchase the real estate within five days from the expiration
of the four months, as aforesaid, by paying to the clerk all remaining
taxes, levies, interest, penalties, fees and costs, and by paying all city,
town and county taxes and levies remaining unpaid together with all
interest and penalties and if the applicant does not, within said five days,
exercise such right, then all amounts deposited by him as provided in
this section shall be forfeited to the Commonwealth, and the rights
of such applicant to such land shall cease, and the right to redeem the
same shall immediately accrue to all parties entitled to redeem the same,
and the right to file an application for the purchase of the same shall
also accrue immediately to any one desiring to purchase.

Sixth. What Necessary In Order For Purchaser to Complete His
Purchase ; Character of Deed to Purchaser, and What It Must Recite.—
And the purchaser shall then, in order to complete his purchase, at his
expense, have a report made to the circuit court of the county or cor-
poration court of the city in which the said real estate is situated, by
the surveyor of such county or the engineer of such city, or where
there is no such surveyor or city engineer, or when such surveyor or
engineer refuses to act, by some competent surveyor to be appointed
by such court for that purpose, specifying the metes and bounds of
said real estate the names of the owners of the adjoining tracts or lots,
and giving such further description of the said real estate as will
identify the same. But in the discretion of the court there need not
be an additional survey if a sufficient description of the said land can
be obtained from the records; which fact, and the order dispensing
therewith shall be entered by such court upon its order book.

The circuit or corporation court, as the case may be, unless it have
some objection to such report, shall order the same to be recorded.
After such report shall have been recorded or dispensed with, as here-
inbefore provided, the purchaser shall obtain from the clerk of the
circuit court of the county or corporation court of the city in which
the said real estate is situated, a deed conveying the same, in which
shall be set forth all the circumstances appearing in the clerk’s office
in relation to the sale, and reference shall be made in the said deed
to said report, or the order of the court dispensing therewith, as the
case may be. [Every such deed shall be with covenant of. special
warranty.

Seventh. Costs and Fees; When Clerk May Be Compelled to Make
Deed.—In no case shall the Commonwealth be liable for any costs
incurred under any of the provisions of this section. For making
off a copy of an application under this section the clerk shall be entitled
to a fee of twenty cents; for every order of publication and posting,
fifty cents; for every deed executed, one dollar; and for every copy
of application served under this: section by sheriff or other officer, he
shall receive thirty cents. All the foregoing fees may be required by
the clerk or other officer to be paid in advance, except the fee for the
deed, which may be paid upon the delivery of the deed, but the fee
taxed for the order of publication against the party redeeming the
land shall be the amount actually paid or contracted to be paid by the
applicant for the publication of such order. If the clerk refuse to
execute such deed the circuit court of the county or corporation court
of the city wherein such real estate is situated may compel him to do
so upon the petition of the purchaser.

Eighth. How the Real Estate May Be Redeemed, If No Deed to
Applicant Made Within One Year From Date of Application; When
Application Null and Void and Amounts Paid by Applicant Forfeited
to Commonwealth.—In all cases where applications are pending, or
may hereafter be filed, if no such deed be made under this section
within one year after the date of the application for the purchase of the
said real estate to the party entitled to the deed, unless hindered by
judicial proceedings, the person or persons entitled to redeem the same,
as hereinbefore mentioned, his or their heirs or assigns, may, after
such year and before such deed is made, redeem the said real estate
by paying the purchaser the amount paid therefor by him, including
the costs, but not the penalty hereinbefore provided, with such taxes
and levies as he may have paid thereon since such purchase, with
interest at six per centum per annum upon such payments from the
date they were respectively made, and unless hindered by judicial
proceedings, if no such deed be made under this section, within two
years after the date of the said application to the party entitled to
the deed, his or their heirs or assigns, and if the said real estate be not
redeemed as herein provided, then the said application shall be null and
void, and all amounts paid by such applicant as provided in this section
shall be forfeited to the Commonwealth and the rights of such ap-
plicant to such land shall cease, and the lands shall be open to a new
application as if none had been made.

Ninth. Section Twenty-four Hundred and Eighty-eight Applicable
to Deeds Under This Section and Section Twenty-four Hundred and
Seventy-nine to Real Estate sold Under This Section; Duties of Com-
missioner of Revenue Under Section Twenty-two Hundred and
Fighty-three Not Affected by This Section——The provisions of section
twenty-four hundred and eighty-eight of this Code shall apply to
deeds made under authority of this section, and the provisions of
section twenty-four hundred and seventy-nine shall apply to real estate
sold under authority of this section. Nothing herein contained shall
be construed as affecting the duties of the commissioner of revenue as
prescribed by section twenty-two hundred and eighty-three.

Tenth. When No Application Can Be Made Under This Section.—
No application shall be made under this section to purchase any real
estate if at the time of such application suit is pending either to satisfy
debts due creditors or for partition among the parties interested. If
one application has been filed for the purchase of real estate, and
copies thereof issued, no second application shall be considered for
the same piece of land until the rights of the first applicant shall have
expired.
Eleventh. Non-resident Applicant to Designate Agent On Whom
Process May Be Served.—Every applicant for the purchase of land
under this section who does not reside in the county or city wherein
said land is situated shall, in writing, designate some resident of said
county or city as his agent or attorney, upon whom all process against
or notice to such applicant shall be served, and service of any such
notice or process upon such agent or attorney shall have the same
force and effect as if served upon the applicant in person. Such writ-
ing shall be signed and acknowledged by the applicant and delivered
to the clerk of the court in whose office any application under this
section shall be filed, and shall be by him recorded in the deed book
of said office; except that said writing shall be recorded in the clerk’s
office of the chancery court of the city of Richmond, if application is
made in said city.

Twelfth. How Right of Applicant Contested—Any person having
the right to redeem said land as hereinbefore mentioned, and who
desires to contest the right of the applicant to purchase such real estate,
shall give notice in writing to the applicant of his purpose to make
such contest. The notice shall name the term of the court and the
day of the term on which he will make the motion to dismiss or
quash the application or otherwise resist said application. The notice
shall be executed upon the applicant, if a resident of the county or
city wherein such real estate is situated, or upon his agent or attorney
hereinbefore provided for, at least ten days before the return day there-
of. The circuit court of the county or corporation court of the city
wherein such real estate is situated shall hear and determine all ques-
tions that may arise on submission of said motion and adjudicate the
same according to law, and an appeal shall lie from the circuit court
of the county or corporation court of the city to the Supreme Court
of Appeals in the same manner as is now provided for appeals in
civil cases.