CHAPTER 786

An Act to amend and reenact § 55-59, as amended, of the Code of Virginia,
relating to the construction of deeds of trust. —
[H 650]

Approved April 5, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 55-59, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended
and reenacted as follows:

§ 55-59. How deed of trust construed; duties, rights, etc., of par-
ties.—Every deed of trust to secure debts or indemnify sureties, except
so far as may be therein otherwise provided, shall be construed to impose
and confer upon the parties thereto, and the beneficiaries thereunder, the
following duties, rights and obligations in like manner as if the same were
expressly provided for by such deed of trust, namely:
(1) The deed shall be construed as given to secure the performance
of each of the covenants entered into by the grantor as well as the payment
of the primary obligation.

(2) The grantor shall be deemed to covenant that he will pay all
taxes, levies, assessments and charges upon the property, including the fees
and charges of such agents or attorneys as the trustee may deem advisable
to employ at any time for the purpose of the trust, so long as any obliga-
tion upon the grantor under the deed of trust remains undischarged.

The grantor shall be deemed to covenant that he will keep the
improvements on the property in tenantable condition, whether such
improvements were on the property when the deed of trust was given or
were thereafter placed thereon.

The grantor shall be deemed to covenant that no waste shall be
committed or suffered upon the property.

(5) The grantor shall be deemed to covenant that in the event of his
failure to meet any obligations imposed upon him then the trustee or any
beneficiary may, at his option, satisfy the same; and the money so ad-
vanced with interest thereon shall be a part of the debt secured by the deed,
in the event of sale to be paid next after the expenses of executing the
trust, and shall be otherwise recoverable from the grantor as a debt.

(6) In the event of default in the payment of the debt secured, or
any part thereof, at maturity, or in the payment of interest when due, or
of the breach of any of the covenants entered into or imposed upon the
grantor, then at the request of any beneficiary the trustee shall forthwith
declare all the debts and obligations secured by the deed of trust at once
due and payable and shall take possession of the property and proceed to
sell the same at auction at the premises or at such other place in the city or
county in which the property or the greater part thereof lies, or in the
corporate limits of any city surrounded by or contiguous to such county,
or in the case of annexed land, in the county of which the land was formerly
a part, as the trustee may select upon such terms and conditions as the
trustee may deem best, after first advertising the time, place and terms
of sale in such manner as the deed may provide or, if none be provided,
the trustee shall advertise the time, place and terms of sale once a week
for four successive weeks in a newspaper published or having general
circulation in the county or city in which the property or some portion
thereof is located and may sell such property on the twenty-second day
after the first advertisement or any day thereafter. It is not intended,
however, to declare that other and different advertisement may not in any
case be deemed reasonable, nor to prevent the trustee from giving the sale
such additional advertisement as he deems advisable. No notice to the
grantor or his successor in title shall be required unless required by the
deed of trust. Any sale of property held less than twenty-eight days
after the date of the first publication made prior to July first, nineteen
hundred sixty, in substantial conformity herewith is hereby validated.

(7) If the property or some portion thereof is located in a city, or in
a county immediately contiguous to a city of the first class, publication of
the advertisement five different times in any newspaper published or hav-
ing general circulation in such city or county (the last insertion if desired
on the day of sale) shall be deemed adequate; it not being intended, how-
ever, to declare that other and different advertisement may not in any case
be deemed reasonable, nor to prevent the trustee from giving the sale such
additional advertisement as he may deem advisable. The advertisement
and sale of property made prior to January one, nineteen hundred fifty-
six, in substantial conformity herewith is hereby validated.

(8) If the deed of trust itself provides a method of advertising, which
may be done by using the words “advertisement required”, or words of like
purport, followed by the method agreed on, then no other or different
advertisement shall be necessary, beyond what the deed calls for, though
the trustee may, in his discretion, give further advertisement.

(9) The trustee may postpone the sale at his discretion, in such
case giving such notice by advertisement of such postponement as he may
deem reasonable, and, without meaning to declare any other method un-
reasonable, when the advertisement is by publication in a newspaper the
continuation thereof in subsequent issues of such newspaper with a note of
such adjournment appended shall be deemed adequate in the absence of con-
trary provision in the deed of trust.

(10) The trustee may require of any bidder at any sale a cash
deposit of * as much as ten per centum of the sale price (unless the deed of
trust specifies a different maximum, which may be done by the words “‘bid-
der’s deposit of not More than oo... ee ceeccceeeseeeeeeeseeees dollars may be
required,’ or words of like purport), before his bid is received, which
shall be refunded to the bidder unless the property is sold to him, otherwise
to be applied to his credit in settlement or, should he fail to complete his
purchase promptly, to be applied to pay the costs and expense of sale and
the balance, if any, to be retained by the trustee as his compensation in
connection with that sale.

(11) If the sale be upon credit terms the deferred purchase money
shall bear interest from the day of sale and shall be secured by a deed of
trust upon the property contemporaneous with the trustee’s deed to the
purchaser.

(12) The clerk of the court upon admitting to record the deed of
such trustee conveying property held in trust shall note a reference to same
on the margin of the deed book where the deed or other writing conveying
the property to such trustee in trust is recorded, if the same can be found
in his office.

(13) The trustee shall receive and receipt for the proceeds of sale,
no purchaser being required to see to the application of the proceeds,
and apply the same, first, to discharge the expenses of executing the trust,
including a commission to the trustee of five per centum of the gross
proceeds of sale; secondly, to discharge all taxes, levies, and assessment,
with costs and interest, including the due prorata thereof for the current
year ; thirdly, to discharge in the order of their priority, if any, the remain-
ing debts and obligations secured by the deed, with lawful interest; and,
fourthly, the residue of the proceeds shall be paid to the grantor or his
assigns ; provided, however, that the trustee as to such residue shall not be
bound by any inheritance, devise, conveyance, assignment or lien of or upon
the grantor’s equity, without actual notice thereof prior to distribution.

(14) Upon discharge of all the debts, duties and obligations im-
posed by the deed upon the grantor, including any expenses incurred pre-
paratory to sale, then upon the grantor’s request the trustee shall execute
and deliver a good and sufficient deed of release at the grantor’s own proper
costs and charges.

Any sale of property located in a city, made under a deed of trust
after first advertising the time, place and terms of sale once a week for four
successive weeks in a newspaper published or having general circulation
in such city, is validated, provided such sale was otherwise conducted
according to law.