Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1882

ARREARS OF RENT (IRELAND) ACT 1882

CHAPTER XLVII.

An Act to make provision respecting certain Arrears of Rent in Ireland.[1] [18th August 1882.]

[Ss. 1–3 (being Part I.) rep. 61 & 62 Vict. c. 22 S.L.R.)]

Part II.

Supplemental Provisions.

[Ss. 4–15 rep. 61 & 62 Vict. c. 22 (S.L.R.)]

Arrears of rent how dealt with.

16. [Power of Land Commission to make advances to landlord in respect of arrears of rent and by order to declare the holding charged with the repayment of the advance by a rentcharge, rep. 61 and 62 Vict. c. 22 (S.L.R.)] The charge declared by the order as aforesaid shall have priority over all charges affecting the holding, except quit-rent and crown rent, and sums payable to the Commissioners of Public Works, and shall be payable by the tenant of the holding for the time being, and shall be levied and collected in manner herein-after provided; and in the event of the tenant failing to pay any half-yearly instalment of the said charge for the space of twelve months after the same shall have accrued due, then and in every such case the amount of such instalments, together with the entire of the unpaid residue of such charge, with interest as ascertained by the Land Commission, shall forthwith be payable by the tenant, and the amount thereof shall be raised by sale of the tenancy in the prescribed manner.

. .

In the event of such default by the tenant for the space of twelve months as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the county court of the county in which the holding is situate, on the application of the Land Commission, to order a sale of such tenancy, which shall be sold, and the proceeds of such sale dealt with by the said county court in the prescribed manner.

If the proceeds of any such sale fail to realise the amount ascertained by the Land Commission [1] as aforesaid, together with the cost of sale, the amount of the deficiency shall be paid by the landlord of the said holding, and shall be a charge upon his estate and interest therein, and shall be collected and levied in the prescribed manner: Provided, that on any transfer of the tenant's interest in the holding by sale, the principal sum and interest, if any, remaining due to the Land Commission, shall be paid out of the purchase money to the Land Commission.

On the order of the Land Commission being made as aforesaid in relation to any holding such antecedent arrears shall be deemed to be absolutely released.

The landlord and tenant may agree that any rent paid by the tenant in or subsequent to the year expiring as aforesaid shall be deemed, for the purposes of this section, to have been paid in respect of the rent due for that year, and not in respect of arrears of rent.

Where arrears of rent in respect of a holding are due to some person or persons besides the landlord the advance made under this section shall be rateably distributed amongst the persons entitled thereto.

33 & 34 Vict. c. 46.

44 & 45 Vict. c. 49.

The omission or refusal by either landlord or tenant of any holding to join with the other of them in obtaining a loan from the Land Commission under this section shall not prejudice any other application or proceeding which either of them may make or institute under this Act or the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1870, or the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, in relation to such holding.

The Land Commission shall, at such time after the expiration of each period of twelve months as the Treasury may from time to time appoint, make up an account showing for the said period of twelve months the amount of all such payments due to them in respect of rentcharges payable to them under this section as they have failed to recover at the expiration of the said period.

Whenever, in the case of any tenant evicted for non-payment of rent, or in case the holding of the tenant has been sold and purchased by the landlord, and possession taken thereof by him, since the first day of May one thousand eight hundred and eighty, the landlord agrees to reinstate such tenant on the terms in this section set forth, this section shall apply as if such tenant had not been so evicted from his holding.

Exemption in respect of public charges upon arrears of rent extinguished.

17. Where, in the case of a holding of which any person is owner, antecedent arrears of rent due in respect of any year or years, or portion of a year, have been extinguished in pursuance of this Act, and any public charge or tax accrued during such year or years, or portion of year or years, is due from such person as or in consequence of his being owner of such holding, then, on proof to the satisfaction of the Land Commission that the owner has, during such time as aforesaid, received no rent, or an amount of rent less than the full rent, such public charges or taxes shall, if no rent has been received, be wholly remitted, and if an amount of rent less than the full rent has been received, be remitted in proportion to the amount of rent not received.

Where a person has paid any public charges or taxes which, if not paid, would be remitted under this section, the amount which would have been so remitted shall be allowed as a deduction from any future payment or payments of the public charges or taxes of the same description, or may be recovered as a debt from the authority to whom it may have been paid.

Any payment which an owner may receive under this Act in respect of arrears of rent shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken into account as rent.

The Land Commission shall ascertain, for the purposes of this section, in such manner as they think best calculated to ascertain the truth, the amount of public charges or taxes due in any year or portion of a year from a person as or in consequence of his being owner of a holding.

Public charges or taxes” means tithe rentcharge payable to the Land Commission, income tax, quit-rent, or any of such charges or taxes.

Part III.

Emigration.

Power of guardians to borrow for emigration.

12 & 13 Vict. c. 104.

18. The board of guardians of any union in Ireland are authorised to borrow money for the purpose of defraying or assisting to defray the expenses of the emigration of poor persons resident within their union, or any electoral division thereof, in manner provided by the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1849, as amended by subsequent Acts, subject to the following modifications; (that is to say),

(1.) The provisions of the said Act in relation to the repayment of the advance by annual instalments shall not apply;

(2.) The advances may be made by the Commissioners of Public Works out of any moneys granted to them for the purpose of loans in place of the Public Works Loans Commissioners;

(3.) Every such advance made by the Commissioners of Public Works shall bear interest at the rate of three-and-a-half per centum per annum, or at such other rate as the Treasury may from time to time fix, in order to enable the advance to be made without loss to the Exchequer:

(4.) Every such advance made by the Commissioners of Public Works, and the interest thereon, shall be repaid within such period from the date of the advance, not being less than fifteen years nor more than thirty years, as the Treasury may from time to time fix.

Orders for payment of loans may be made by Local Government Board.

19. If at any time the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland certify that any sum remains due to them from the board of guardians of any union on account of any loan or advance made under this Act, and is then payable to the Commissioners, the Local Government Board shall, by order under their seal, require the guardians of the union to pay the sum so certified, and shall send copies of such order to the board of guardians and to the treasurer of the union; and thereupon the treasurer of the union shall, out of any money then in his hands to the credit of the guardians, or if such money is insufficient for the purpose, then out of all moneys subsequently received by him on account of the guardians, pay over the amount mentioned in the order to the Commissioners of Public Works. The guardians of the union shall debit the several electoral divisions with such proportions of that sum as may be payable by such electoral divisions respectively.

[S. 20 rep. 54 & 55 Vict. c. 48. s. 35 (4).]

Rules.

21. The Lord Lieutenant may from time to time make provision that arrangements shall be made for securing the satisfactory emigration of persons for whom means of emigration are provided under this Act, by prescribing rules in relation to such matters, and for the employment of special agents for that purpose, and otherwise as he thinks expedient. And any grants made under this Act for emigration purposes shall be applicable to defraying the expenses of such arrangements in such manner as the Lord Lieutenant directs.

[S. 22 rep. 61 & 62 Vict. c. 22 (S.L.R.)]

Rules for carrying Act into effect.

23. The Land Commission shall from time to time circulate forms of application and directions as to the mode in which applications are to be made under this Act, and may from time to time make, and when made may rescind, amend, or add to, rules with respect to the following matters, or any of them:

(1.) The tribunal, whether Land Commission, civil bill court, sub-commission, or member of the Land Commission or a sub-commission by which such applications are to be heard:

(2.) The mode of making applications under this Act, and the manner in which the tenant shall set out any property or effects of which such tenant may be possessed or entitled to, and which would be applicable to the satisfaction of any arrears of rent, and the conduct of proceedings before any tribunal hearing applications under this Act:

(3.) The conditions and circumstances on and in which appeals may be had to the Land Commission where applications have not been heard by the Land Commission:

(4.) The mode in which the expenses of hearing any application under this Act or of any appeal are to be defrayed:

(5.) The attendance and discharge of duties by the officers of the civil bill courts before the Land Commission and sub-commissions when holding sittings under this Act:

(6.) The service of notices on persons interested, and any other matter by this Act directed to be prescribed:

(7.) The mode of collecting, suing for, recovering, and accounting for charges and instalments of charges, and the procedure for the sale of tenancies to raise the amount of such charges, and for dealing with the proceeds of such sales under this Act:

(8.) As to any other matter or thing, whether similar or not to those above mentioned, in respect of which it may seem to the Land Commission expedient to make rules for the purpose of carrying this Act into effect.

Any rules made in pursuance of this section shall be of the same force as if enacted in this Act, and shall be judicially noticed.

Short title of Act.

24. This Act may be cited for all purposes as the Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1882.

[First Sched. rep. 61 & 62 Vict. c. 22 (S.L.R.) Second Sched. referred to in s. 20 falls with repeal of that section.]

[1 Short title, “The Arrears of Rent (Ireland) Act, 1882.” See s. 24.]

[1 The repealed part of the section empowered the Land Commission in each half year to transmit to the clerk of every union, a warrant setting forth the names of the tenants within the union, liable to pay the charges or instalments, and the amount due and the warrant was to be judicially noticed and be conclusive evidence of the arrears due.]