Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1887

Substitution of a written notice for the execution of an ejectment.

23 & 24 Vict. c. 154.

11 & 12 Vict. c. 47.

23 & 24 Vict. c. 154.

23 & 24 Vict. c. 154.

44 & 45 Vict. c. 49.

7.—(1) In the case of any holding for which a judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent has been recovered, where the rent does not exceed one hundred pounds by the year, and in every other case of judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent in which the plaintiff shall elect to take advantage of and proceed under this section, the period within which an application for a writ of restitution of possession may be made in the manner provided by the seventieth and seventy-first sections of the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, shall be a period of six months after the service of a notice under this section. Such notice shall state truly the exact amount claimed by the plaintiff as payable for redemption and the place or places where and the person or persons to whom the same may be paid or tendered during the said period and may be in the form contained in the schedule to this Act, or to the like effect, and may be served after six weeks from the date of judgment, but not earlier unless the court shall permit, by the person entitled to the possession of land under a judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent, upon every person served with the writ or process in such ejectment who at the time of the service of the notice shall be in possession of such land; in all such cases a copy of the said notice shall be sent in a registered letter addressed to the tenant, and a summary of such notice in the prescribed form shall be posted by or on behalf of the landlord on a police barrack or court house in the district in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time; and if no such person is in possession, it may be posted in the prescribed manner; and a copy of such notice shall be filed in the court in which such action is pending within the prescribed time. Upon such service or posting the tenancy in the holding shall be determined as if a writ of possession under the judgment had been duly executed.

(2) Upon the determination of the tenancy by the service of such notice as aforesaid every person upon whom such notice is served shall thereupon be deemed to be a person put into possession as a caretaker, and the enactments of the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, relating to persons put into possession of lands by permission of the owner as caretakers shall apply as if on the date of the service of the notice a writ of possession had been duly executed, and such person, having been removed from possession had been readmitted as caretaker. When a person is deemed to have been put into possession of land as a caretaker under this section, he may be removed from possession at any time after one month from the service of such notice, but not earlier save by leave of the court, in the manner and under the conditions provided by law for the recovery of possession of premises occupied by a caretaker: or, at the expiration of the period of redemption, but not sooner, the possession of such land may be recovered by a writ of possession in the prescribed form under the said judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent; and in the case of proceedings being taken under the eighty-sixth section of the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, for the removal from possession of such caretaker, the justices may, at the request of the landlord or owner of the premises, issue the warrant mentioned in such section to the sheriff of the county in which the premises are situated instead of to the special bailiff mentioned in the section, and such warrant shall be a sufficient authority to the said sheriff, his under-sheriff or bailiff, to enter upon the said premises with such assistants as he shall deem to be necessary and to give possession accordingly; and he shall be under the same obligation to execute such warrant, and shall be entitled to the same fees and allowances, as if the warrant were a civil bill decree in ejectment, nevertheless payable solely by such landlord or owner of the premises. The justices may put a stay upon the issue of the warrant for any time not exceeding one month, if they think fit, by reason of illness of the caretaker or his family or any other sufficient reason. A warrant may be executed at any time not less than seven days nor more than two months from the issue thereof. The enactments of the Eviction (Ireland) Act, 1848, shall apply to warrants under this section.

Save as provided by this Act, a judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent of a holding where the rent does not exceed one hundred pounds by the year, or where the plaintiff elects to take advantage of and proceed under this section, shall not be executed by a writ of possession after the passing of this Act; but shall issue in the same form and manner, and for all other purposes shall be of the same force and effect as if this section had not been passed.

(3) A person having the right to apply for a writ of restitution under the seventieth or seventy-first sections of the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, may, within six months after the service of a notice under this section, apply for a writ of restitution of possession as if a writ of possession had been executed against him; and, subject to power to the court to award the costs thereof against the plaintiff if the application became necessary by reason only of the unreasonable conduct of the plaintiff, all the provisions of the said sections relative to the payment or lodgment of rent, arrears, and costs, and relative to the rights of the landlord and tenant respectively in the holding, shall regulate such application. At the end of the period of six months from the service of the notice determining the tenancy all right of redemption in the holding shall be at an end. In case such writ of restitution of possession shall be awarded, the landlord shall not be liable or accountable for any damage or injury occurring to the holding or the crops or produce thereof after the service of the notice aforesaid whilst the holding has been occupied by such caretaker: Provided that the landlord may nevertheless, if he so think fit, after such period has elapsed, reinstate such tenant in the tenancy of his holding in as full and ample a manner as he had previously thereto enjoyed it.

When a notice has been served under this section, any matter or thing which, in accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, or the Land Law (Ireland) Act, 1881, or any other Act, might have been done within, but not after a period of six months from the execution of a writ of possession may be done within, but not after, a period of six months from the service of such notice; and in the said Acts the period of six months from the service of such notice shall be in lieu of the period of six months from the execution of a writ of possession.

Where a judgment in ejectment for nonpayment of rent has been executed before the passing of this Act, the time within which a writ of restitution of possession may be applied for shall be the time limited by the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, in that behalf.

Service of a notice under this section, also the service of a summons under the eighty-sixth section of the Landlord and Tenant Law Amendment Act (Ireland), 1860, may be made in the prescribed way, or in any way in which the service of a writ of summons in an action in the High Court for the recovery of land may for the time being be made.

In this section expressions referring to the service of a notice upon persons in possession of land shall include the posting of a notice where no person is in possession.

A right to be registered as a voter or to vote at any parliamentary or other election shall not be affected by reason only of the service of a notice or notices under this section.

(4) A return of the number of notices filed in court under this section, and as far as possible, of the actual evictions in respect of such notices, shall be made from time to time to the Lord Lieutenant, and shall be presented by him to Parliament.