LONG DELAYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25211, 25 May 1945, Page 8

LONG DELAYS

LAND SALES CONSENT ] WORK OF COMMITTEES MUCH HARDSHIP CAUSED ! Although the Land Sales Act has been J in force for over 18 months, its admin- 1 istration in Auckland appears to be no more expeditious than when the committees began to function. In fact, it is understood that the accumulation of cases awaiting the attention of the committees is now greater than ever before. Largely because of the work involved when it is necessary to produce evidence of value, a certain amount of delay is inevitable, but hundreds of people are being subjected to untold irritation, inconvenience and even hardship through what they claim is an unnecessarily long wait for finality to their transactions. It is not uncommon for applications for consent to sales to lie in the land sales offices for two months or _ more. There are cases in which the application has been filed, with a valuer's report, two months or more before a fixture has been made for a hearing. Even applications that do not require a hearing are subject to long delays, and on occasions a month or more has elapsed before the committee's decision has been given. Not. all cases are delayed to such an extent, and there are instances in which a decision has been obtained within a week. But these are the exceptions rather than the rule. Serious Complications Arise The long period of uncertainty which many a buyer or seller, lias to endure creates numerous complications of, a serious nature. In the case of bouse properties, the buyer is often desperate to obtain possession. His search for alternative properties ceases while he waits for | the committee to fix the value of the 'property he has agreed to buy. If the price is reduced by the committee and the vendor withdraws the property, both parties are back to the startingpoint. For the buyer, the same lengthy 'procedure begins again. Valuable weeks, during which he has probably been paying prohibitive rent or board for himself and his family, have been wasted. The hardship on the vendor is no less acute in many cases. "The long delays may provide an incentive for the commission of an offence that defeats the object of the Act; The buyer, in his desperation to move into a house, may offer to pav the vendor's price, irrespective of that fixed, by the committee, in order to obtain immediate possession. He may reason that the money he is paying out during the waiting period and the amount he will have to pay in additional legal expenses if he has to get another property may not be much less than the difference between the vendor's and the committee's price. This course, reprehensible as it is. is reported' to have been taken. Time lor a Review Urged

Many people consider the time has arrived for a thorough review of the

administration. Last year the three Auckland committees as a whole had

an average of 800 cases ahead of them every month. This year the number is understood to be considerably greater — a poor look-out for prospective buyers and sellers. Several factors are responsible for this situation. Firstly, the number of applications to be dealt with has risen, it is believed, by 25 per cent. The greatest time-lag seems to exist in the cases to be handled by the urban committee. Although it has far more cases to consider than the other two committees, the North Auckland and the South Auckland, this committee hears cases on only three days a week. On two other nights it deals with applications that do not require a hearing. Two of its three members cannot devote their full time to the work, but it is clear that while it is sitting the committee deals with the greatest possible number of cases. As long as the committee continues to function on a part-time basis there will continue to he delays, but this factor is not entirely responsible for the unsatisfactory position. The Supply oi Valuers If the work were accelerated, the difficulty " in obtaining valuers might create a bottleneck at times. A shortage of competent valuers on whom the Crown can call to relieve the burden on the Crown valuers is stated to exist in Auckland. However, as far as the urban commijtee is concerned, the valuations are believed to be up to date. Last year about 50 per cent of the cases required a hearing, but this year the proportion is helieved to be higher. This places greater demands on the committees. In spite of this new situation there has been no increase in the time devoted by the urban committee to hearings. A new land sales committee is expected to operate in Hamilton very soon and this may permit a reduction in the size of the areas under the jurisdiction of the Auckland committees. The committee in Hamilton is expected to take over the South Auckland committee's area and the latter would then take the southern portion of the North Auckland committee's area. This would allow the North Auckland committee to deal with cases from the North Shore boroughs which are at present included in the urban committee's district. The relief thus provided in the urban area should help to reduce the present delays. Although there have been delays in the cases coming before the North Auckland committee, these are understood to have been due to the time taken in obtaining valuers' reports, and the committee has been able to keep up with the work once the reports have been available. In the South Auckland committee's area the delays are largely attributable to the great distances to be 1 covered in the large country area. The situation there, as in the other areas, should be eased when the Hamilton committee begins to operate. AMERICAN CHILD-WIFE NEW YORK. .May if; Mrs Deney Vivian Woods, aged 12, asked the Denver Court to annul her marriage to John Woods, convicted of felony in Louisiana. The couple were married nearly two years ago. The wife said she lived with her husband in Louisiana for a few months, and went to Colorado after her husband was sentenced to the State penitentiary. The suit was based on charges of extreme cruelty, her age, and the misband's conviction.