Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

Section V   Execution upon immovables

§ 1. The Seizure of Immovables in Execution

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   498.   The seizure of immovables can only be made against the judgment debtor.

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   No seizure can be made of immovables declared by the donor or testator thereof, or by law, to be exempt from seizure.

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   499.   The seizure of immovables can only be made in virtue of a writ, clothed with the same formalities as writs of execution against movables, ordering the Sheriff to seize the immovables of the defendant and to sell them in satisfaction of the judgment pronounced against him or her from principal, interest, and costs.

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   The date of the judgment, must be inserted in or written and certified upon the writ, under the signature of the Registrar.

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   Exceptional provisions regulate the sale of immovables for the payment of municipal taxes and assessments.

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   500.   The writ is addressed to the Sheriff and is executed by the Sheriff himself or herself or by one of his or her officers. It must be made returnable on a day certain within 4 months from its date, except in cases where the immovable is of no greater value than $280.

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   501.   Before proceeding to seize immovables, the seizing officer calls upon the defendant to declare and specify his or her immovable property, and upon his or her failure so to declare and specify, or if he or she be absent, the executing officer may seize the property in possession of the defendant, at the risk and peril of the latter.

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   502.   The seizure of immovables is recorded by minutes which must contain:

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      1.     mention of the title under which the seizure is made;

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      2.     mention of the defendant having been called upon, as required by the preceding article;

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      3.     a description of the immovables seized, indicating the town, village, or parish, as well as the street (when in a town or village) in which they are situated, and the coterminous lands;

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      4.     the number and description of the cattle used in the cultivation of the estate must also be given;

     If the property to be seized consists of incorporeal rights, such as rents, leases, or other real charges, mention must be made of the title under which they are due, with a description, as above mentioned, of the real property charged with the same;

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   5.     mention that the minutes are made in duplicate, and that one duplicate thereof has been delivered to the judgment debtor, either personally or at his or her actual or legal domicile.

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   503.   The seizing party's domicile is elected at the Sheriff's office, without its being necessary to elect another or to mention it in the minutes.

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   504.   The judgment debtor, as well as his or her seizing creditor, may cause the ground rents and charges upon the immovables seized to be mentioned in the minutes.

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   505.   The alienation of immovables which are under seizure is null and void.

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   The alienation avails, however, if the seizure is declared null, or if, before the day fixed for the sale, the purchaser or the debtor pays into the hands of the Sheriff upon a receivable order a sufficient sum to discharge the claims of the creditor in whose name the seizure was effected, as well as the claims of any creditors whose writs of execution have been noted, and the amount thus deposited is immediately paid by the Sheriff by cheque to the creditors entitled to it.

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   506.   The judgment debtor may remain in possession of the immovables until the adjudication. If he or she does so remain, he or she has all the responsibility of a guardian to movables. The Sheriff may, however, appoint any other person guardian.

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   507.   Any creditor may, if the Court or Judge think fit, obtain the appointment of a sequestrator to receive the rents, issues, and profits of the immovables, and to expend the advances made for the cultivation of the estate while under execution. The Court or Judge may also authorise the sequestrator to take possession of all the property movable and immovable of the judgment debtor.

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   508.   The advances mentioned in the preceding article can only be made upon the order of the Judge, upon the application of a creditor, notice of the application having been given to the plaintiff, the defendant, and to the opposants if any there be. These advances, with the interest thereon, rank immediately after the funeral expenses upon the proceeds of the crop for the cultivation of which the advances are made, and if there be sufficient upon the immovables in the same rank.

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   509.   The judgment debtor cannot, nor can any other person, cut timber on the property seized, or in any manner deteriorate the same, on pain of being imprisoned for a term not exceeding 6 months, under a rule of Court or the order of the Judge.

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   510.   The Sheriff may, before seizing immovables, exact from the party who places the writ in his or her hands the sum of $9.60, to meet the first expenses.

§ 2. Advertisements

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   511.   The Sheriff is bound to advertise in the Gazette, 3 separate times within the space of 2 months from the date of the first publication, the sale of immovables seized.

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   The advertisement must contain:

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      1.     The number of the cause and the date of the judgment under which the execution takes place;    

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      2.     The names and surname of the plaintiff in the suit, or if there are several plaintiffs, a designation of the first named in the writ, with an indication that there are others;

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      3.     The names and surnames of the defendant in the suit, or if there are several defendants, a designation of the one first named in the writ, with an indication that there are others;

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           If the plaintiff or defendant is acting as a tutor to minors, it is sufficient to state that he or she is acting as tutor to the minor children of the deceased person, without designating the minors by name;

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      4.     A designation of the immovables, or of the rents, as the case may be, as inserted in the minutes of the charges therein mentioned and of those also which the seizing party has requested in writing to have inserted, and mentioning upon which of the defendants the property is seized;

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      5.     The time and place at which the immovables or rents will be put up for sale and adjudged;

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      6.     The date at which the writ of execution is returnable into Court;

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      7.     The conditions of payment of the purchase money;

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      8.     The upset price, if one has been fixed in accordance with the following articles;

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      9.     The deposit required by Article 530.

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   (Amended by Act 2 of 1988)

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   511A.   The Judge or the Registrar may on an application made by the judgment creditor, notice of which shall be served on the judgment debtor, fix an upset price for the sale of immovables seized by the Sheriff by virtue of a writ of execution. (Amended by Act 3 of 1954)

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   511B.   The judgment creditor shall file as an exhibit to his or her application a certificate by the Registrar showing all claims registered against the immovable. (Amended by Act 3 of 1954)

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   511C.   On the hearing of the application if the parties agree on the upset price to be fixed, the Judge or Registrar shall make an order accordingly, but if the parties fail to agree the Judge or Registrar may fix an upset price after hearing the parties and their witnesses or may order that the matter be referred to experts in accordance with the provisions of articles 287 to 304. (Amended by Act 3 of 1954)

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   511D.   If the upset price is not reached when the immovable is put up for sale, the Sheriff shall make a return to the Registrar to that effect, and the Judge or the Registrar shall fix a new upset price for the immovable which price shall be the original upset price reduced by not more than 25%, shall order the immovable to be re-advertised for sale for a further period of one month, and shall extend the time for return of the writ of such further period as the circumstances may require.

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   511E.   Change Rule 3 of the Supreme Court of the Windward Islands and Leeward Islands (Powers of Registrars) Rules, Statutory Rules and Orders, 1957 Revision, Chapter I, Part I.) to Order 32 of the Supreme Court (Revision) 1970 (No. 2).

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   (Amended by S.I. 1 of 1972 and Act 2 of 1988)

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   512.   (Repealed by Act 2 of 1988)

§ 3. Oppositions to the Seizure and Sale of Immovables

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   513.   The Sheriff, in the absence of any consent on the part of the seizing creditors, cannot stop the sale of immovables, except upon the Judge's order permitting the filing of an opposition, accompanied with an affidavit on the part of the opposant, or of his or her attorney in the absence of the opposant, that all the allegations in the opposition are true to the best of the deponent's knowledge and belief, and that the opposition is not made with intent unjustly to retard the sale, but solely to obtain justice.

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   514.   Every opposition to the seizure and sale of immovables or rents must be filed in the Sheriff's office at the latest on the tenth day before that fixed for the sale.

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   No opposition filed after this period can stop the sale, unless the special order of the Judge be obtained on good cause shown, and upon such terms and conditions as he or she may think just. If the object of the opposition not allowed by the Judge is to withdraw, in whole or in part, the immovable or the rent under seizure, or to impose upon the purchaser some charge which would be destroyed by a Sheriff's sale, such opposition has the effect of an opposition for payment out of the monies levied.

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   The Sheriff in all cases is bound to return such oppositions into Court.

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   515.   Notwithstanding the filing of any opposition to the seizure or sale of immovables or rents, the Sheriff is bound to continue the publications hereinabove prescribed, but he or she cannot in such case proceed with the sale without an order from the Court or Judge.

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   Nevertheless when the opposition is founded upon grounds which only go to reduce the amount claimed, the plaintiff, upon giving the opposant notice that he or she admits his or her opposition, may proceed to the sale in conformity with the conclusions of such opposition.

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   516.   Every opposition must be delivered to the Sheriff, and the return of its service upon him or her, if it is required, must be made at the foot of a copy thereof.

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   517.   Saving the provisions of article 514 respecting oppositions not allowed by the Judge, the Sheriff is bound to return into Court, within 24 hours, any oppositions to the seizure and sale duly served upon him or her, together with the writ of execution, all his or her proceedings, including a duplicate of the advertisement published in the Gazette.

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   518.   Every party who opposes unsuccessfully the sale of an immovable or of a rent under seizure, is liable towards the party seizing and the defendant, not only for the costs incurred upon his or her opposition, but also for all damages incurred upon his or her opposition, but also for all damages resulting therefrom, including interest upon the amount due to the plaintiff, for the time during which the sale was topped.

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   OPPOSITIONS TO ANNUL

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   519.   The party whose immovables or rents are seized may oppose the seizure or the sale thereof, whether his or her opposition be founded on matters of form or on matters of substance.

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   Third parties may likewise file similar oppositions when they have an actual interest therein.

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   OPPOSITIONS TO WITHDRAW

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   520.   Oppositions to withdraw may be filed by third parties who claim as their property part of any immovable or rent under seizure.

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   When the property is undivisible the Judge may order the sale of the whole property upon the petition of a creditor of the defendant, such petition having been previously served upon the opposant and the other known proprietors of the property seized. If the sale be so ordered, each undivided proprietor has a claim on the proceeds, according to his or her share in the property.

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   OPPOSITIONS TO SECURE CHARGES

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   521.   Oppositions to secure charges may be filed by a third party when an immovable under seizure is advertised to be sold without mention being made of some charge with which the immovable is burthened in his or her favour, and from which it might be discharged by a Sheriff's sale. But such oppositions are unnecessary and cannot be received for the purpose of securing servitudes other than conventional.

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   OPPOSITIONS TO CHARGES UPON IMMOVABLES UNDER SEIZURE

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   522.   Any person aggrieved by reason of an immovable being advertised as subject to a charge posterior to his or her claim which prejudices his or her claim, may file an opposition to the end that the property be not sold subject to such charge, unless good and sufficient sureties be given him or her that it will be sold at a sufficient price to ensure payment of the amount due him or her.

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   This opposition may likewise be either by the seizing creditor, or by the judgment debtor, when the mention of such charge has been made without the participation of the opposant.

§ 4. Venditioni exponas

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   523.   When oppositions are decided before the day fixed for sale, if the seizure is not set aside, and if no new notice of sale be required, the Sheriff on the day of sale may proceed upon the writ in accordance with the judgment of the Court.

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   But if the oppositions are not decided until after the day fixed for the sale, the Sheriff can only proceed to sell under a writ of venditioni exponas, and in conformity thereto, and after 3 further consecutive publications in the Gazette.

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   524.   The execution of a writ of venditioni exponas cannot be stopped by opposition, unless for reasons subsequent to the proceedings by which the sale was suspended in the first instance and upon the order of the Judge.

§ 5. Bidding and Sale

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   525.   On the day and at the place appointed for the sale, the officer conducting the same, after reading the notice, the charges and conditions of the sale, offers the immovable for sale.

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   526.   No bid can be received unless the bidder, if required, declares his or her names, quality, or occupation, and residence. Minutes are taken of the bids received.

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   Every bid implies an undertaking to buy the property at the price of such bid, subject to the condition that no higher valid bid will be given.

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   527.   The conditions of the Sheriff's sale must express all those contained in the advertisements.

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   528.   Without prejudice to any other law for the time being in force, the following persons shall not be bidders or purchasers at the sale:

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      1.     the party whose property is being sold, if that party is personally liable for the debt;

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      2.     the sheriff or other officer conducting the sale;

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      3.     in the case of a resale for false bidding the purchaser who has failed to prevent the resale under article 546.   

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   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

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   529.   Verbal bids may be made by proxy.

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   530.   Before receiving the first bid of every bidder, the officer conducting the sale shall require from the bidder a deposit or a certified bankers cheque of an amount of money equal to 1/10 of the debt (in principal, interest and costs) due to the seizing party.

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   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

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   531-533.   (Repealed by Act 2 of 1988)

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   534.   If a bidder fails to deposit forthwith the amount required by article 530, his or her bid shall be disregarded, and the proceedings shall be resumed upon the previous bid.   

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   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

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   535.   The Sheriff, or other officer conducting the sale, is bound, immediately after the adjudication, to refund to every bidder except the purchaser, the amount deposited by each, and the deposit made by the purchaser is retained as part of the purchase money.

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   536.   The adjudication of an immovable cannot be made before the expiration of an hour from the time at which it was put up for sale, and after that delay, the officer before adjudging it must receive all other bids offered.

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   537.   The property must be adjudged to the highest and last bidder: provided however that in cases where the property is sold subject to an upset price the property shall not be adjudged to the highest and last bidder unless the upset is attained or exceeded. (Amended by Act 3 of 1954)

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   538.   A person who has purchased as proxy for another, is bound to furnish the Sheriff, within 3 days, with the names, quality and residence of his or her principal, and his or her power of attorney, or a ratification of his or her bid and purchase; in default whereof he or she is held to have purchased in his or her own name.

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   He or she is likewise held to have purchased in his or her own name, if the person for whom he or she acted is not known, cannot be found, is notoriously insolvent, or is incapable of being purchaser.

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   539.   The purchaser shall pay the Sheriff the purchase price less the deposit referred to in article 530 within 6 months of the date of sale with interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum. In default of such payment, the deposit paid by the purchaser shall be forfeited and shall be applied towards the judgment debt.

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   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

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   540.   Nevertheless, the plaintiff or any other creditor who has filed an opposition in the hands of the Sheriff, may, on becoming purchaser, retain the purchase money to the extent of his or her claim, until the scheme of ranking, provided he or she pay the Sheriff the costs of sale and furnish him or her with good and sufficient security for all damages that might result to any party interested, in the event of the non-payment of such sum as the Court or Judge may order such purchaser to pay into the hands of the Sheriff.

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   541.   Upon the purchaser's compliance with article 539 and 540 as the case may be, the Sheriff shall execute a deed of sale in favour of the purchaser with respect to the immovable property sold.

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   Such deed must contain:

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      1.     a designation of the writ under which the sale took place;

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      2.     the number of the cause and the names, surnames, additions and residence of the parties;

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      3.     a description of the immovable property sold;

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      4.     a statement that all the formalities prescribed by law have been observed;

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      5.     the time and place at which the property was adjudged;

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      6.     the conditions of the sale including those mentioned in articles 552 and 553;

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      7.     a statement of the price at which the property was adjudged; and

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      8.     a conveyance of all the rights of the judgment debtor in the immovable property.

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   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

§ 6. Resale

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   542.   (Substituted by Act 2 of 1988)

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   543.   Any creditor whose claim appears upon the record, or the defendant, may demand the resale; but the purchaser cannot be held liable for the costs of more than one of such proceedings, and that of the seizing party, or, in his or her default, the one first served, has the preference over the others, provided the creditor follows it up with proper diligence.

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   544.   The proceedings upon an application for resale are summary, and are made before the Court or Judge. No written contestations can be had thereon without leave.

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   545.   (Repealed by Act 2 of 1988)

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   546.   The purchaser may prevent the resale for false bidding by paying into the hands of the Sheriff, upon a receivable order before such sale, the instalment due, with the interest accrued thereon, and giving security, if any be required, and for all costs incurred by reason of his or her default.

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   547.   If the price of the resale is not sufficient to cover the amount of the first purchase, with interest thereon, and the costs incurred on the resale, the bidder may be held, even by imprisonment, to pay the difference, upon an application to that effect, made by any party to the suit, in the same form and manner and under the same conditions as that for a resale.

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   548.   Resale for false bidding can only take place after 3 publications as prescribed in article 511.

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   The surety for an instalment of the purchase money of property judicially sold, who has paid such instalment, shall be entitled to be collocated, in respect of such payment, on the proceeds of a resale of such property only after the unpaid collocations charged on the proceeds of a prior sale, or resale of such property. (Amended by Act 7 of 1913)

§ 7. The return of writs of execution

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   549.   The sheriff in whose hands a writ has been placed for the sale of the immovables of a debtor, is bound, on pain of being liable for all costs and damages, to return such writ on the day appointed, together with a certificate of his or her proceedings, the minutes of seizure, copies of the Gazette containing the advertisements, the minutes of the bidding, a statement of his or her fees and disbursements taxed in conformity with article 550, and all oppositions and claims placed in his or her hands, or writs of execution which he or she has noted as oppositions.

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   If there be a return of nulla bona it must be made immediately without waiting until the day fixed for the return of the writ.

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   550.   The Sheriff is allowed, out of the monies which he or she has levied, all costs incurred by him or her to effect the sale, and all fees belonging to his or her office, after they have been taxed by the Judge or the Registrar. He or she holds the amount levied subject to the order of the Court or Judge.

§ 8. The effect of the Sheriff's sales

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   551.   No adjudication is perfect until the price is paid.

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   552.   The purchaser takes the immovable in the condition in which it is at the time of the adjudication, without regard to deteriorations or improvements subsequent to the seizure.

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   553.   The adjudication is always with warranty as to the contents of the immovable, and it conveys all rights which belong to it, and which the judgment debtor might have exercised, and also all active servitudes attached to it, even though they are not mentioned in the minutes of seizure.

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   554.   A Sheriff's sale discharges immovables from all servitudes with which they are charged, except those established by law.

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   A Sheriff's sale discharges property from all other real rights not mentioned in the condition of sale.

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   555.   A purchaser who buys an immovable advertised as having a certain building thereon, may demand a diminution of the price if the building be found to be on a neighbouring lot.

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   556.   A purchaser who cannot obtain the delivery of the property from the judgment debtor, must demand it of the Sheriff, and upon the Sheriff's return or certificate of the refusal to deliver, the purchaser may apply to the Court or Judge by petition, of which the debtor has received notice, and obtain an order commanding the Sheriff to dispossess the debtor, and to put the purchaser in possession, without prejudice to the recourse of the latter against the debtor for all damages and costs resulting from his or her refusal.

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   557.   The proceedings upon this application are the same as upon that for a resale.

§ 9. The vacating of Sheriff's sales

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   558.   Sheriff's sales may be annulled:

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      1.     at the instance of the judgment debtor, or of any creditor or other interested person:

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           If fraud or artifice was employed, with the knowledge of the purchaser, to keep persons from bidding;

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           If the essential conditions and formalities prescribed for the sale have not been observed; but the seizing party cannot annul the sale for any want of formalities attributable to himself or herself or his or her attorney-at-law;

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      2.     at the suit of the purchaser;

If the immovable differs so much from the description given of it in the minutes of seizure, that it is to be presumed that the purchaser would not have bought had he or she been aware of the difference.

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   559.   The application by any other than the judgment debtor, must be made in the suit by a special petition, within 3 months from the date of adjudication, it must be served upon the seizing party and upon all other interested parties in the suit, and in other respects is subject to the rules of ordinary procedure.

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   The party who prosecuted the seizure and sale has a preferable right to contest any suit brought to annul such sale; and if he or she fails to do so within the prescribed delays any other party may take up the contestation; but the purchaser cannot, in any case, be condemned to pay the costs of more than one contestation.

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   560.   An application on behalf of the judgment debtor must be made within 15 days from the date of the adjudication.

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   561.   The nullity of the sale may be placed by the purchaser against whom an application is made for a resale for the non-payment of the first instalment.

§ 10. Oppositions for payment

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   562.   The Registrar is bound to keep a register in which are entered all returns by the Sheriff to writs of execution issued by the Court, with mention of the amounts levied, of the oppositions made to the distribution thereof, and of all claims filed as well in the hands of the Sheriff as in the Registrar's office.

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   563.   Oppositions for payment may be filed with the Sheriff, if he or she has not yet made his or her return, or in the office of the Registrar after the return is made. When the return is made the Registrar notifies the creditors to file their oppositions within 8 days after the first publication in the Gazette.

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   After this delay, they cannot be filed without permission of the Judge or Court, and upon such conditions as may be imposed.

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   564.   When there is no opposition, a judgment may be rendered by the Registrar in the name of the Court, ordering the monies to be paid by the Sheriff by cheque to the seizing party, according to their sufficiency and to the amount of his or her claim.

§ 11. Collocation and the distribution of monies

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   565.   After the delay for filing oppositions has expired the Registrar prepares a scheme of ranking without delay.

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   566.   The scheme of ranking must mention the names of the parties plaintiff, defendant and opposant, and the amount levied.

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   567.   Each collocation must form a separate article, in numerical order.

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   568.   In preparing the scheme of ranking the Registrar must set according to the apparent rights of the parties, as shown by the oppositions, claims and the other documents forming part of the record, and in conformity with the rules contained in the Civil Code, in the Book respecting Privileges and Hypothecs, and Registration of Real Rights, and with those hereinafter declared.

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   Law costs must, however, be collocated in the following order:

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      1.     costs of the report;

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      2.     tax upon the amount levied, and costs of seizure and sale;

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      3.     costs incurred upon the writ of execution against immovables, and such as may remain due upon the discussion of the movables;

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      4.     costs of affixing seals, and of making any inventory required by law;

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      5.     costs incurred either in the Court below or in appeal, upon proceedings incidental to the seizure and necessary to effect the sale of the immovables;

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      6.     costs of suit as provided in article 473.

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   569.   After law costs, those claimants must be collocated in their respective order who had some right of property in the immovable sold, and who failed to set up their rights in due time by opposition to annul, opposition to withdraw, or opposition to secure charges, but have filed claims for payment; after, however, deducting such debts as they may be bound to pay and as have become payable in consequence of the sale of the immovable, and the costs mentioned in the preceding article.

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   570.   Conditional hypothecs are collocated in the report according to their rank, but the amounts thereof are made payable to subsequent creditors whose claims are due or, in default of these, to the defendant, upon good and sufficient sureties being given for the return of the money, in the event of the condition being fulfilled; and upon failure of the latter to give such security, within the delay fixed by the Court, the amounts may be paid to the conditional creditors, upon their giving good and sufficient sureties to return the monies in the event of the condition failing, or becoming impossible and paying interest, when the case requires it to such persons as the Court may order.

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   571.   In the case of neither party furnishing the requisite security, the amount of the conditional claim may be placed in the hands of a sequestrator or depositary upon whom the parties agree, or whom the Court or Judge appoints.

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   572.   When a prior claim is undetermined and unliquidated, the Registrar, out of the disposable monies, must reserve a sufficient sum to cover it; and such sum remains in the Sheriff's hands until the claim is liquidated, or until the Court otherwise orders.

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   573.   Hypothecary claims due with a term of payment become payable in consequences of the discussion and sale of the immovable subject to them, and are beneficially collocated, but if they do not bear interest, the creditor is then collocated and receives the amount of his or her collocation on condition that he or she shall give and after he or she has given security to pay interest, until the term expires, to the subsequent made payable to the party collocated so long as the principal creditors mentioned in the report; and if he or she is collocated for a part only of his or her claim, he or she is not liable for interest towards such subsequent creditors until the full amount of his or her claim is completed. The amount of the conventional dower, if any, may remain as a mortgage upon the property sold until it becomes payable. The interest of the amount remains unpaid.

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   574.   Claims for the capital of life-rents are determined and collocated according to articles 1809, 1810, 1811 and 1812 in the Civil Code.

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   575.   Interest and arrears of rents preserved by registration of a claim are placed in the same rank with such claim, up to the day on which the immovable was adjudged.

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   A creditor whose claim is registered is collocated, in the same rank, for the costs as in a default action in the Court of first instance. His or her costs in appeal rank only according to the date of their registration.

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   576.   When several immovables, or pieces or parcels of land separately charged with different claims are sold for one and the same price;

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   When a vendor's claim comes in concurrence with a builder's privilege; or,

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   When a creditor has some preferential claim upon part of an immovable, by reason of improvements or other cause;

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   And the disposable monies are insufficient;

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   The Registrar, if the record does not afford him or her sufficient data to perform the relative valuation himself or herself, must suspend the distribution and report the facts to the Court or Judge.

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   577.   Upon the application of one of the parties interested after notice given to the others, the Court or Judge orders experts to be named in the ordinary manner, in order to establish the respective values of the immovables, pieces of land, or improvements and the proportion which should be allotted to each out of the monies to be distributed.

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   578.   The relative valuation being established upon the report of the experts, the case is sent back to the Registrar, in order that he or she may proceed to determine the order of collocation and the distribution of the monies.

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   579.   The parties are allowed 8 days to contest the scheme of ranking, reckoning from the day on which notice is posted in the Registrar's office of the scheme having been made.

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   580.   The contestation may relate to the scheme itself and to the order or rank of the collocations, or it may go to the merits or substance of any of the claims collocated, and in this case the scheme becomes impliedly contested and stayed, to the extent of such contestation, without its being necessary to file a special contestation of the scheme to that end.

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   The contestation in all cases must be accompanied with the reasons and documents in support thereof, if there are any, and a copy of such contestation must be left with the party interested, either at his or her elected domicile or at the Registrar's office, if there is no such domicile.

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   581.   Contestations of the scheme or of the order of collocation may be inscribed immediately upon the roll for hearing, after notice given to the parties interested, without the necessity of any written answer to such contestation.

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   582.   When a contestation of the scheme, or of a collocated claim is maintained, it is so maintained for the benefit of the mass of the creditors, and the Registrar prepares a new scheme according to the rights of the parties.

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   583.   The right of contesting claims, oppositions or collocations belongs to whichever of the interested parties is first to use it.

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   A party whose claim or collocation is contested is not bound answer more than one of several contestations founded on the same grounds, and he or she may apply such contestations united and the proceedings thereon conducted between him or her and the first contesting party, all notices have a right to watch the proceedings and even to be put in the place of the party who has taken up the contestation, in the event of his or her withdrawal of his or her neglect or refusal to proceed.

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   584.   Contestations upon the merits of oppositions or claims are subject to the rules of procedure which apply in ordinary suits.

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   Different opposants may join together and make a single contestation upon the same grounds.

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   585.   After the delay for contesting the scheme has expired, the prosecuting party, or upon his or her failure to do so within 2 days, any other party interested may move for the homologation of the whole scheme, if there is no contestation, or of the part which is not contested or which is not affected by the contestations, when these are only to a part.

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   Such motion cannot, however, be made until after notice thereof has been posted up in the Registrar's office during at least 4 days.

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   586.   The homologation may be granted either by the Court or Judge, or by the Registrar, in term or in vacation, unless there is a counter application or contestation, in which case the Court alone can decide. When the scheme is homologated, the Registrar draws up and transmits to the Sheriff the schedule of payments without delay.

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   587.   When no opposition for payment has been filed, or when all the parties consent, the monies levied may, without the formality of a scheme of ranking, be adjudged by the Registrar to the parties entitled to them, upon a motion to that effect made either in term or in vacation.

§ 12. Sub-collocation

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   588.   Any creditor of a person who is entitled to be collocated, or is beneficially collocated upon monies levied, has a right to file a sub opposition, demanding that, to the extent of his or her claim, the sum accruing to his or her debtor be not paid to such debtor, but to him or her.

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   The sub opposition must be supported by an affidavit that the amount claimed is due.

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   589.   Sub opposition must be served upon the party whose monies are thus attached.

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   590.   The sub collocation may follow the collocation, and be included in the general scheme, or it may form a separate scheme, and is subject to the same rules and formalities; but the costs thereof are borne by the creditor whose collocation is thus opposed.

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   591.   If a debtor fails to exercise his or her rights and claims, his or her creditor may intervene in the distribution in order to exercise the rights of such debtor, in the same manner and with as little expense as the debtor himself or herself could have done.

§ 13. The payment of monies levied

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   592.   At the expiration of 8 days after the date of the judgment homologating a scheme of ranking the Sheriff is bound to pay by cheque, to the parties entitled thereto, the monies which he or she has received.

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   593.   The Sheriff, or other officer performing his or her functions, may be held by imprisonment to the payment of the monies by him or her levied or received.

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   594.   Any party aggrieved by a scheme of ranking may seek redress by means of an appeal, or a petition in revocation, if there are grounds for it.

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   595.   When a scheme of ranking is reformed or the adjudication is set aside, or if a reduction be made upon the price of sale owing to a deficiency in the quantity of land sold or other cause, whatever sums have been unduly paid must be returned to the Sheriff upon a receivable order, and the parties collocated are bound to refund such monies upon an order of the Court to that effect.

§ 14. General provisions in respect of sales of movables and immovables

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   596.   When the Sheriff has seized movables or immovables upon a judgment debtor he or she cannot seize them again at the suit of another creditor, or of the same creditor for another debt as long as the first seizure subsists: but he or she is bound to note any subsequent writ of execution as an opposition for payment upon the first writ; and in such case the first seizure cannot be abandoned nor suspended, except in consequence of oppositions applicable as well to the seizing creditor as to those whose writs of execution have been noted as oppositions or with their consent, or by an order of the Judge.

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   597.   In the event of the seizing creditor abandoning the seizure or receiving payment of his or her claim, the Sheriff is bound to continue the proceedings in the name of the seizing creditor and at the cost of the judgment creditors whose writs have been noted, in order to satisfy the claims specified in the subsequent writs of execution, provided that the seizure was made with all requisite formalities.

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   598.   Any creditor whose writ has been noted may apply to the Court or Judge to have his or her name substituted for that of the seizing creditor upon showing due cause therefor, such as delay on the part of the seizing creditor.

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   599.   Neither the Sheriff nor any of his or her officers can either directly or indirectly bid upon property put up for sale, nor become purchaser thereof.

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   600.   No sale can take place unless there by 3 persons present and bidding exclusive of the Sheriff and his or her officers. (Amended by Act 3 of 1954)

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   601.   The sale must not proceed beyond the sum necessary to pay the amount the Sheriff is required to levy in virtue of the writs in his or her hands in principal, interest, and costs, and percentage due to the Crown; to this end the judgment debtor has the right to fix the order in which the things are to be put up for sale.

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   602.   The proceedings upon oppositions to the seizure and sale of immovables or rents are the same as those upon oppositions to the seizure or sale of movables.

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   603.   The proceedings, upon contestations of schemes of ranking and of claims collocated, upon the homologation of a scheme of ranking, in whole or in part, upon sub-collocation, and upon the payment of monies levied, are the same in the case of movables as in the case of immovables.

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   604.   A party contesting an application may pray the Court that a deed upon which such opposition is founded, or which is produced in support thereof, may be declared fraudulent, null or void, as the case may be, without having recourse to a direct action.

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   The Court may order that any party not of record be served with a copy of the contestation. Any party having an interest in the contestation may intervene as in ordinary cases. The contestants may serve the contestation upon any one interested, and thereby make him or her a party of record.

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   605.   The proceedings upon a contestation are carried on ex parte with regard to any party who does not rely to the contestation within 8 days after its service upon him or her.