Chap. 452.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 637, 638, 642, 648, 649, 650,
G51, 653, 654, 655, 659, 662, 664, 665, and 666 of the Code of Virginia, as here-
tofore amended, in relation to the sale of delinquent lands.

Approved December 12, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the gencral assembly of Virginia, That sections
six hundred and thirty-seven, six hundred and thirty-eight, six hundred
and forty-two, six hundred and forty-cight, six hundred and forty-nine,
six hundred and fifty, six hundred and fifty-one, six hundred and fifty-
three, six hundred and fifty-four, six hundred and fifty-five, six hundred
and fifty-nine. six hundred and sixty-two, six hundred and sixty-four,
six hundred and sixty-five, and six hundred and sixty-six of the Code of
Virginia, as heretofore amended, in relation to the sale of delinquent
lands, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows: ;

§ 637. Clerks to deliver to treasurers copy of list of delinquent real es-
tate; how treasurers to give notice of sale of lands for taxes, levies, and
so forth—The clerk of each corporation or hustings court, the clerk of
the council of each city, and the clerk of cach cireuit court, shall, at the
time he certifies to the auditor of public accounts a list of real estate de-
linquent for the non-payment of taxes and levies thereon, make a copy of
the same, and deliver it to the treasurer of his county or city. Within
thirty days after receiving such copy from the clerk, such treasurer, if he
be an officer of a city, shall post a printed capy of such list in at least five
public places in each ward of his city: if the treasurer he the officer of a
county, he shall post a copy at the front door of the courthouse of his
county on the first day of a cireuit court, and also a printed copy in ai
least five public places in cach magisterial district. in said county; and
the said treasurers may distribute in other ways in their respective cities.
towns, and counties, such additional printed copies as they may deem
proper to secure general publicity of the time and place of sale of the
lands therein mentioned as delinquent. and in addition thereto, if, in
the judgment of the said officer, it is deemed necessary, a copy of saic
list shall be inserted once in a newspaper, if there be one, published in the
said county or city. And the expense thereof, as well as of the printing
and publication of said list. shall be paid by such county, city, or town
as the case may be, but shall be apportioned among the delinquents ae.
conand to the amount of taxes and levies due by them, respectively, anc
added to the respective amounts so due. To each copy thus posted an
published the treasurer shall attach a notice that the real estate therei:
mentioned, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the taxe:
levies, interest, costs, and charges due thereon, will be sold at public auc
tion on the first day of the following November or December court, be
tween the hours of ten in the morning and four in the afternoon, in fron
of the courthouse, unless the amount for which the said lands are delin
quent, together with the interest, costs, and charges, shall have been pre
viously paid to such treasurer.

§ 638. If taxes, levies, et cetera, not paid, treasurers to sell lands; ad
journment of sale.—If the said taxes, levies, interest, costs, and charge:
and a due proportion of said expense be not previously paid, the trea:
urer shall proceed to make sale accordingly; and the sale may be ad
journed from day to day, and proceed between the hours aforesaid, unt:
it shall be completed. If, however, the sale be not completed on the la:
day of the court, it shall be adjourned to the first day of the next circu:
or corporation court. It may then proceed, and be adjourned in like man
ner as at the previous term. Whenever there is an adjournment to th:
next court, notice thercof shall be given by proclamation to the bystander:
then present, and by posting at the front door of the courthouse.

§ 642. Treasurer to report sales to court; form of report.—After t)
sales have been completed, the treasurer shall, within sixty days, repor
to the circuit court of his county or corporation court of his city as fo!
lows:

“T hereby report that, after giving the notice required by law, on th:
—— day of , nineteen hundred and , I sold the following
described tracts or parcels of land, lying in the county or corporation ©:
, State of Virginia, to the respective parties herein named, for
taxes, levies, costs, and charges due thereon, respectively :

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All of which is respectfully submitted,
(Signed) ————

County (or city) treasurer.”
That the treasurer of each county and city shall immediately, after
the sale made of any lands delinquent for taxes or levies, furnish to the
clerk of the circuit court of his county, or to the clerk of the corporation
court of his city. as the case may be, a list of all persons whose lands had
been returned delinquent and who had paid such delinquent taxes and
levies to such treasurer prior to such sale, and such clerk shall immedi-
ately endorse such payment on the delinquent list filed in his office for the
corresponding year opposite the name of the taxpayer whose land had
been returned delinquent.

$648. How mistakes in report of sales corrected; amended list to be
filed and recorded ; notice to purchaser and former owner.—If any treas-
urer shall in his list of sales omit therefrom any real estate and the name
of the purchaser, or state therein the name of the purchaser incorrectly,
or that it was purchased by one person when it was in fact purchased by
another, on the petition of such treasurer, or of any person interested,
presented within one vear from the date of sale, to the circuit or corpora-
tion court of the county or city in which such real estate is situated, stat-
ing such omission or mistake, on satisfactory proof thereof the court shall
enter an order permitting the treasurer {o file with the clerk an amended
list in conformity with the decision of the court, which amended list and
order of court shall be reeorded in the “delinquent land book” and a copy
thereof transinitted to the auditor. The person so named as purchaser
in the original list by mistake shall, however, have twenty days’ previous
notice of the presentation of such petition. Where the mistake made by
the treasurer consists in the omission of real estate and the name of the
purchaser thereof from the list of sales, the like notice of twenty days
shall be given the previous owner of such real estate, who may exercise
his right of redemption within two years from the date of the order of
court aforesaid. in the manner and on the terms prescribed by sections
six hundred and fifty and six hundred and fifty-one.

$ 649. Court may grant relief against sale; when, and upon what no-
tice.—Any person aggrieved by reason of the confirmation of such sale
may apply for relief to the circuit court of the county or corporation
court of the city, of the treasurer who made such sale at any time pre-
vious to the execution of the decd hereinafter provided for; and upon
showing that the taxes and levies assessed upon such real estate for which
the same has been sold are not from any cause justly due, or that the
said real estate is not liable for the same, such court may set aside and
annul such sale, and exonerate such real estate from said taxes and
levies, and order the restitution of the purchase money to the purchaser.
The treasurer, purchaser, and Conmmonwealth’s attorney shall have at
least. five days’ notice of the application, and the Commonwealth’s attor-
nev shall be present and defend the same.

$650. Who may redeem lands: within what time, and upon what
terms.—The owner of anv such real estate so sold, his heirs. or assigns, or
any person having the right to charge such real estate with a debt, may
redeem the same by paving to the purehaser, his heirs, or assigns, within
two vears from the day of sale, the whole amount paid by said purchaser,
and anv such additional tayes. levies. costs, and charges as may have
heen paid by him sinee the sale, with interest at the rate of six per
centim per annum on the amount so paid.

Upon the production before the clerk of the circuit court of the county
or corporation court of the city in which the land was assessed for taxa-
tion, by any person who is entitled to redeem such land, of a receipt frova
the purchaser at the tax sale, showing that all taxes, costs, and so forth.
have been paid to him by the person to whom the receipt is given, duly
signed and acknowledged by the purchaser as a deed is required to t«
acknowledged, such clerk shall endorse the fact of such payment to the
purchaser on the delinquent land book, opposite the entry of said tract
or lot, for the year or years for which it was sold for delinquent taxe
to the purchaser. The clerk shall receive a fee of twenty-five cents. to be
paid by the person for whose benefit the endorsement is made, for en-
dorsing the fact of the payment on the delinquent land book.

§ 651. Amount may be paid to clerk, if purchaser refuse it or canno’
be found; clerk to endorse payment on delinquent land book.—What i:
authorized to be paid bv the preceding section may be paid within th°
said two years to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or cor-
poration court of the city (whose officer may have sold such real estate).
in any case in which the purchaser, his heirs, or assigns, may refuse to re-
ceive the same or may not reside or cannot be found in the county or cor-
poration. The clerk shall endorse the fact of such payment on the delin-
quent land book opposite the entry of the tract or lot.

§ 653. Purchaser of part of tract, and so forth, to have same surveyed:
how survey made; plat to he returned to court and recorded.—The pur-
chaser of a part of any tract or lot of land so sold and not redeemm
within the said two years, his heirs, or assigns, shall have the quantity
purchased surveyed and laid off, at his expense, by the surveyor of thr
county, if it be in a county or town therein; if it be within the cor-
porate limits of any city, by the surveyor of such city; or where there ix
no survevor of such county or city, then by some person to be appointed
by the circuit court of the county or corporation court of the city, or
judge thereof in vacation, for that purpose; the said survevor to com-
mence on either of the lines of the tract or lot, at the option of the pur-
chaser, his heirs, or assigns, so as not to include the improvements on th»
same if it can be avoided, and to be in one body, the length whereof shal:
not be more than double the breadth, where that is practicable. A plat
and certificate of the survey shall be returned to the cireuit court of the
county or corporation court of the city. and if the court, upon examina-
tion thereof, find it to he made in conformity with this section, it shall
order the same to he recorded.

$654. When entire tract. sold, what report surveyor to make.—When
an entire tract of land is sold and not redeemed within the said twe
vears, the purchaser, his heirs, or assigns, at his expense, shall have a re
port. made to the circuit court of the county or corporation court of the
city, by such surveyor or other person, as is provided for in the preced-
ing section, specifving the metes and bounds of the land sold, the name
of the owners of the adjoining tracts or lots, and giving such further de-
scription of the land sold as will identify the same, and the circuit or cor-
poration court, unless it see some objection to such report, shall order the
same to he recorded.

§ 655. When deed made to purchaser: clerk to make it: what to con-
tain: fee of clerk.—After the expiration of the said two vears the pur-
chaser of any real estate so sold and not redeemed, his heirs, or assigns,
shall obtain from the clerk of the circuit court of the county or corpora-
tion court of the city (whose officer has sold such real estate), a deed con-
veying the same, in which shall be set forth all the circumstances appear-
img in the clerk’s office in relation to the sale; but in no case shall a deed
be amade to any such purchaser of any such real estate until after such
purchaser has given to the person in whose name the real estate so sold
stood at the time of said sale, and the person or persons to whom said
real estate so sold has been conveyed of record subsequently to the time
of said sale, or if any of said persons be dead, then to his or their per-
sonal representatives, heirs, and devisecs, and to the trustees, mortgagees,
and beneficiaries, as shown by the records in any decd of trust or mort-
gage on said real estate, or their personal representative, four months’
notice of his said purchase: provided, that no notice need be given to any
trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary in any deed of trust or mortgage which
has been recorded, or the lien thereof renewed, more than twenty years
prior to the date of such sale; and the person entitled to redeem said reat
estate shall have the right to redeem the same at any time before the ex-
piration of said four months, although such time extend beyond the two
years first mentioned herein. If the sale be of part of a tract of land,
the deed shall refer particularly to the plat and certificate of survey re-
turned according to section six hundred and fifty-three, and to the order
of the court thereupon; and if the sale be of an entire tract of land, it
shall refer to the report made according to the preceding section and the
order thereupon. If the sale be of a city or town lot, or of an undivided
interest in such lot, and a report be made describing the same, and such
report be ordered by the court to be recorded, the deed shall refer to such
report. But when, in the case of the sale of a city or town lot, or of an
undivided interest in such lot, there is no such report, the clerk shall,
nevertheless, execute a deed therefor to the purchaser if he desire the
same. For every deed executed under this section the clerk shall be en-
titled to one dollar, which the purchaser shall pay him on the delivery of
the deed. This section shall apply as well to real estate heretofore sold
as to such real estate as may be hereafter sold for taxes or levies; and in
any case in which the chancery court of the city of Richmond has or-
dered the plat and certificate of survey therctofore made of such real es-
tate in the said city to be recorded in conformity to section six hundred
and fifty-three, the clerk of the said chancery court shall execute the deed
to the purchaser, his heirs, or assigns.

§ 659. If purchaser be dead, deed may he made to heirs, et cetera—If
the purchaser has died, his heirs or assigns may move the circuit court
of the county or corporation court of the city (whose officer made the
sale), to order the clerk or a commissioner to execute a deed to such heirs
or assigns.

§ 662. When real estate to be bought in name of auditor; list thereol
to be returned by treasurer to court; when confirmed copies to be sent
to auditor, supervisors, and council; treasurer to have credit for taxes
and levies; original list to be recorded; fee of clerk; provision for try-
ing title whilst unredeemed, and so forth.—When any real estate is of-
fered for sale as provided in section six hundred and thirty-cight and no
person bids the amount chargeable thereon, the treasurer shall purchase
the same in ihe name of the auditor of public accounts for the benefit o
the State and county, city, or town, respectively, unless such real estat:
has been previously purehased in the mame of the auditor, in which ease
it shall be sold for such price as it will bring, A list of real estate so pur-
chased in by the treasurer, showing in whose name sold. the amount ef
taxes, levies, costs, and charges, verified by his oath, shall be returned by
him to the circuit or corporation court, at the saine time he returns his
report of sales under section six hundred and forty-two. If the court
finds said list to be correct. or having corrected the same, when there is
error, it shall confirm the same and direct its clerk to transmit a copy
thereof to the auditor of public accounts, and a copy to the board of su-
pervisors of the county, and in case of a sale for the levies of a city or
town, to the council of such city or town at their next meeting. The
original shall be recorded by the clerk in the “delinquent land book,” for
which he shall receive a fee of one dollar. On the reeeipt of said copics
the auditor, the board of supervisors, and the council of the city or town
shall, respectively, credit the treasurer with the amount of State taxes
and levies chargeable on such real estate so purchased in the name of the
auditor: .

Provided, however, that any person claiming to be entitled to such real
estate, if the same had not been delinquent for taxes, or sold therefor.
may bring any action or actions, or suit or suits, either at law or in
equity, to recover the possession thereof, try the title thereto, or to re-
cover damages for any injury to the same, of to prevent injury to the
same, although such real estate may have heretofore been, or may here-
after be, delinquent for taxes, or purchased by the treasurer in the name
of the auditor of public accounts, for the non-payment of taxes and not
redeemed, and the judgment or decree in any such action or suit shail
only affect the rights and title of the parties thercto, and shall in no wise
affect the rights of the Commonwealth or of any city or county therein
or thereto: provided, however, that no exceution, or other process or order,
shall issue upon any judgment or deerce rendered in any such action or
suit, until the party in whose favor such judginent or decree is rendered
shall have paid all delinquent and other taxes and devices, with the interest
and other charges due upon said real estate, to the State, and to the city,
town, or county, or district, wherein the same is located.

§ 664. How and by whom real estate so purchased may be redcemed:
if redeemed the fact to he certified to commissioner.—The previous
owner of any such real estate, his heirs, or assigns, or any person having
the right to charge the same with a debt, may, until further sale thereof,
redeem such real estate by paying to the clerk of the circuit court of the
county or corporation court of the cily in which such real estate
is situated the amount for which the sale was made, together with
such additional sums as would have accrued from taxes and levies
if the same had not been purchased by the Commonwealth, with
interest qn the amount for which the sale was made at the rate of
six per centum from the day of sale, and on the additional sums from the
fifteenth day of December in the vear in which the same would have ae-
erued. The clerk shall endorse the fact of such payment on the delin-
quent land book opposite the entry of the tract or lot. When real e-
tate is redeemed as provided in this section the clerk shall certify the fact
to the commissioner of the revenue of the county or city wherein such
real estate lies. For making statement, calculating interest, and so
forth, the said clerk shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents, payable by the
person redeeming his land. The clerk shall annually, at the time he
makes report to the auditor of public accounts of taxes collected by him
(as now provided by law), report upon blanks to be furnished by the au-
ditor the amounts received by him for redemption of delinquent lands,
and shall pay the same into the public treasury at the time fixed by law
for paying in other public money received by him. For his services in re-
ceiving this money and paying it into the treasury he shall be entitled to
a commission of five per centum.

$ 665. Court may authorize redemption of part of land; fix its value;
when redeemed, to be free from lien for taxes and levies on rest of land;
notice of application required; clerk to enter order on “delinquent land
book” ; his fee——The circuit court of the county or corporation court of
the city in which is situated real estate purchased in the name of the
auditor, may, for good cause, authorize the redemption of a part of any
real estate so purchased, whether the applicant be the owner of such part
only or of the entire tract; and to that end may, subject to the limita-
tions and on the terms prescribed by section five hundred and-sixty-
seven and the sections following to five hundred and seventy-three, in-
clusive, correct any erroneous assessment as to such part. The court shall
fix the value of the part so to be redeemed, and upon the payment of the
taxes and levies according to the values thus fixed, the owner shall be en-
titled to hold such part free from any lien for taxes and levies then due
on the residue of the tract. The treasurer and Commonwealth’s attorney
shall each have at least five days’ notice of such application, and the lat-
ter shall be present and defend the same, and the order of court shall show
the fact. It shall be the duty of the clerk to make an entry of such order
on his “delinquent land book,” and furnish a copy of the same to each
applicant, for which he shall be entitled to receive from such applicant a
fee of seventy-five cents.

§ 666. When and how lands purchased in the name of the auditor and
unredeemed to be sold.—When real estate so purchased in the name of
the auditor is not redeemed by the previous 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 pur-
chase it shall file an application with the clerk of the circuit court of the
county or corporation court of the city wherein such is situated, for the
purchase of such real estate for the amount for which the sale to the
Commonwealth was made, and the taxes and county 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 in-
terest if such real estate had not been so purchased by the Common-
wealth, 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 addi-
tional 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 to the Commonwealth, 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 four hundred and sixty-nine of the
Code, 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 corpora-
{ion 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 Rich-
mond; or if any of the said persons be dead, then the name of his per-
sonal representatives and heirs, and the name of the trustees, mortgagees,
and beneficiaries as shown by the records in any deed of trust or mort-
gage on said real estate, or their personal representative: provided, that
the names of any persons 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 ap-
pear of record in the clerk's office in the chancery court of the said city:
and provided, further. that the name of any trustee, mortgagee, or bene-
ficiary: in any deed of trust or mortgage which has been recorded more
than twenty years prior to the date of the application may be likewise
oinitted. 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: provided, that this deposit, which shall be first for pur-
chase price and then for costs, shall in no case he 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
corporation 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 corporation in which the land is situated,
but are known by the clerk to reside in some other county or corporation
in the State of Virginia, the clerk shall send copies of said application to
the proper officer of the county or corporation wherein they reside, to be
executed upon such person. Said return shall be made within sixty days
alter 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. On affidavit that one or more of
tle parties are non-residents of the State, or that diligence has been used
hy or on behalf of the applicant to ascertain in what county or corpora-
tion such persons are without effect, or that a copy of the application ha:
been twice delivered to the proper oflicer of the county or corporation in
which he resides without being executed, 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 :

To ——————_: 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 —-—————— district, ——————- county
(if in a city or town, name the city and ward), was sold on the day

of ———————., nineteen ——: —, for delinquent taxes, levies, inter-
est. and costs to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and application for the
purchase thereof has been filed in this office, and it appearing from the
rceords in this office that you are interested in said Jand, vou 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 ————— day of
teen ———__—_—

» nine-

Clerk ————————. court, Virginia.

It shall be published once a week for four successive weeks in a news-
paper 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 di-
rect, and shall be posted by the clerk at the front door of the courthouse
cf the county or corporation wherein the court is held on the first day of
the next circuit or corporation court after it is entered. 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
Cireuit court of the county or clerk of the corporation court of the cor-
poration all taxes, levies, interest, penaltics, and costs therewith con-
nected, as well as all fees and costs attending the proccedings 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 appli-
cant had previously paid to the clerk at the time of making such applica-
tion, then the person who made the application shall have a right to pur-
chase the real estate within five davs from the expiration of the four
months, as aforesaid, by paying to the clerk all remaining taxes, levies, in-
terest, penalties, fees, and costs, and by paving all city, town, and county
taxes and levies remaining unpaid, together with all interest and penal-
ties, and if the applicant does not, within said five days, exercise ,such
right, then all amounts deposited by him as provided in this act shall be
forfeited to the Commonwealth, and the rights of such applicant to such
land shall cease, and the right to redeem the same shal] immediately ac-
crue to all parties entitled to redeem the same, and the right to file appli-
cation for the purchase of the same shall also accrue immediately to any
one desiring to purchase.

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 enginecr 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 survevor 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 de.
scription of the said real estate as will identify the same. But, in the

diseretion of the court, there need not be an additional survey if a suffi.
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cient 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 herein-
before provided, the purchaser shall obtain from the clerk of the eir-
cuit court of the county or corporation court of the city in which
the said real estate is situated, a deed conveying the same, in whici
shall be set forth all the circumstances appearing in the clerk's of-
fice 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 covenants of special war-
ranty. In no case shall the Commonwealth be liable for any costs in-
curred under any of the provisions of this act. 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 offi-
cer 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 publi-
cation 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 situ-
ated may compel him to do so upon the petition of the purchaser. In al!
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 ap-
plication for the purchase of the said real estate to the party entitled t
the deed, unless hindered by judicial proceedings, the person or person:
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 rea] 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 pro-
vided, then the said application shall be null and void, and all amounts
paid by such applicant as provided in this act shall be forfeited to the
Commonwealth, and the rights of such applicant to such lands shall
cease, and the lands shall be open to a new application as if none had been
made. The provisions of section six hundred and sixty-one of the Code
of Virginia shall apply to deeds made under authority of this section, and
the provisions of section six hundred and fifty-two shal] 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 four hundred and sixty-nine. No application
shall be made under this section to purchase any rea] estate if at the time
ot such application suit is pending cither to satisfy debts due creditors or
for partition among the parties interested, until after the land has been
sold in said suit and the court has failed to cause the taxes to be paid out
of the purchase money. If one application has been filed for the pur-
chase 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 ap-
plicant shall have expired. Every applicant for the purchase of land
under this section who does not reside in the county or corporation
wherein said land is situated shall, in writing, designate some resident of
szid county or corporation as his agent or attorney, upon whom all pro-
cess 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 writing
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; ex-
cept that said writing shall be recorded in the clerk's office of the chan-
cery court of the city of Richmond, if application is made in said city.
Any person having the right to redeem said land as hereinbefore men-
tioned, 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 pur-
pose 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 cor-
poration wherein such real estate is situated, or upon his agent or at-
torney hereinbefore provided for, at least ten days before the return day
thereof. The circuit court of the county or corporation court of the cor-
poration wherein such real estate is situated shall hear and determine all
questions that may arise on submission of said motion and adjudicate the
same according to law, and an appeal shall lic from the circuit court of
the county or corporation court of the corporation to the court of appeals
in the same manner as is now provided for appeals in civil cases.

2. This act shall be in force on and after the first day of February,
nineteen hundred and four.