SPEEDING UP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 11

SPEEDING UP.

MORTGAGE CASES. < f WORK OF REVISION, j TWO NEW COMMISSIONS. ' i i AUCKLAND CITY PROGRESS, i There will be a speeding up in the work of mortgage revision in Auckland, when two additional commissions recently appointed commence their sittings during this month. The cases to be heard will be mainly thoso in which mortgages on homes and business properties in the city and suburbs have to lip considered. One of the new commissions, over which Mr. W. R. Tuck will preside, with Mr. (I. Grey Campbell as a member, will hold its first sitting next Tuesday, and the other, of which Mr. C. F. Bennett will be chairman and Messrs. W. J. (latenby and A. M. Samuel will be members, will commence work later in the month. The y>resent city adjustment commission will, of course, continue the work it has been doing over the past three or four months, Mr. A. M. Goulding. as chairman, being assisted by Mr. Wm. Wallace and a newly-appointed member, Mr. K. H. Wright. Since the work of revision was begun early in the year about 250 cases have lipon finalised, orders having been made by the commission in nearly a hundred cases. Tn a small number of cases voluntary settlements have been reached by the parties and approv-ed by the commission, and in the remainder the applications have been withdrawn following private agreements. As the majority of the cases of home mortpajres involve only a question of the value of the property the commission has found it possible to dispose of as many as five eases a day and from l"i to 20 cases a week, and it is, therefore, expected that when the work is shared by three commissions at least 40 cases should be dealt with weekly. Long List of Cases. Tt was stated by Mr. J. Muncaster, secretary of the City Adjustment Commission, to-day that 3400 cases in Auckland city and suburbs were set down on tlie lists compiled from information supplied by the Supreme Court, and this number might be increased by several hundred. At the estimated rate of progress, he said, the time required for the commissions to complete their task would extend to the latter part of 1938. However, the work would be reduced if a considerable proportion of the cases were withdrawn as the public became more familiar with the lines the commissions were following. Already there was a tendency for the nutnber of private settlements to increase, and the

lists were being reduced accordingly. In this direction valuable assistance was being given by lawyers in advising their clients of the general principles which guided the commissions in the process of readjustment. The main purposes of the Mortgagors and Lessees Rehabilitation Act, as it affects home applicants, under which the present revision is being carried out, are:— 1. To retain them in the occupation of their homes; and 2. To make such adjustments of their liabilities as will ensure: (a) That the liabilities secured on the property do not exceed the value of the property; (b) that the rent of a leasehold pro-

perty does not exceed the rental value of the property; and (c) that the total amount and terms of payment of such liabilities as are secured by adjustable securities (that is, mortgages to which the Act applies and charges over the property affected), or are adjustable debts, are brought within the capacity of the applicants to meet them as they become due, either out of their own moneys or by borrowing on reasonable terms. The same general provisions, with certain changes in wording, apply to business and other properties. Provisions Covering Farmers. For farmer applicants, none of whom come within the scope of the city commissions' revision, but are dealt with by rural commissions, the first purpose of the Act is "t6 retain them in the use and occupation of their farms as efficient producers." The other provisions are the same as for home applicants. In interpreting these provisions, the Auckland City Adjustment Commission has reduced the total of the mortgage in a considerable number of the cases that have come before it. Briefly, it has brought mortgage liabilities into line with the value of properties in all cases where .the value has fallen below the total sum secured on the properties. Of course, one of the important items

to be taken into account is the accu- j mulation, if any, cr rate arrears. Gene-1 rally speaking, rates take priority in! private mortgages over mortgage debts. Inspections of Properties. In the course of its work the commission has naturally been called upon to make numerous inspections of properties, but the compactness of its area has reduced travelling to a minimum. Nearly all the properties to be considered are within a radius of 10 miles of the Chief Post Office, and a majority are probably within five miles. Some of the rural commissions, on the other hand, have to cover areas which include perhaps half a dozen counties. The North Auckland adjustment commission, for instance, had to deal with cases from anywhere between Warkworth and North Cape. Another commission is investigating farm mort<ra<res from Auckland to the vicinity of Mercer, and a third from Mercer south towards Hamilton. Besides having long distances to travel the rural commissions also have a much more detailed investigation to carry out. They are required to go into all" the important factors governing the "basic value" of farm lands, which involves consideration of the net income that can be derived from the lands by "the average efficient farmer." and in the process they must take into account the prices obtained for farm products over a period of eight to ten years ending July 31, 193.5. A rural case may easily occupy a whole day, and the progress of revision is therefore much slower than in the city.