A.—9

4

to be devoted. The Communal Council completes the description of the property by a certificate declaring : (1.) That the borrower enjoys civil rights. If such is not the case the certificate shall name his natural or legal guardian. If the borrower has no legal domicile in the commune in which the mortgaged property is situated, or if he be not a citizen thereof, he shall produce on this point the certificate of the Communal Council of the commune in which he was born or in which he was domiciled; (2.) That the property to be mortgaged is correctly described. If it is not so, or if the Communal Council knows of other charges, it shall rectify or complete the description of the property. It shall also, should such be the case, indicate if, and to what extent, it is to be anticipated that the mortgaged property is exposed to. deterioration or to loss of value through natural accident. (3.) That the mortgaged properties are not burdened with any other charge than the rights arising from the wife's dowry, or maternal claims upon. it. Particulars on this point which are inexact or incomplete shall be rectified or completed. Where the provisions of the French law respecting mortgages arc applicable the Municipal Council shall, in addition, mention if there are any claims or legal mortgages incumbering the property which is to be given in guarantee (articles 2,103, 2,121, 2,1350f the French Civil Code). (4.) That the borrower is regarded in the commune as being the proprietor of the property to be mortgaged. (5.) That the estimation of the Land Office is correctly given, and that since the last valuation for the land-tax no circumstance has arisen which has caused any damage of importance to the property to be mortgaged (article 19). If the latter should be the case it shall state at the same time the estimated present value of the property. (6.) That the certificate of the Municipal Council has been accurately copied into the register which is to be kept for this purpose in each commune. Article 7. The commune is responsible to the Land-mortgage Bank for the consequences of any fraud or negligence of which the Municipal Council may render itself guilty in the observance of article 6. Article 8. If the property to be mortgaged is situated in several communal arrondissements the borrower must procure the certificate from each Municipal Council for the portion of the property which is situated in each commune, in accordance with the provision of article 6, sections 2, 4, 5, and 6. Article 9. The borrower shall transmit the description of the property, accompanied by the certificate of the Municipal Council, to the Registrar of Mortgages, who shall attach to this document a certificate indicating exactly : (1.) The title of the borrower to the property, and the date of the confirmation of this title. The Registrar of Mortgages shall carefully compare the description of the property, and the certificate of the Municipal Council as to the name of the borrower and the description of the property, as well as to the amount of insurance against fire and the cost of purchase, with the title to the properties and the registers of mortgage, and shall indicate in his certificate the differences between them. If these differences are such as to throw any doubt on the identity of the borrower, or on the property mortgaged, the Registrar of Mortgages shall at once apply to the Municipal Council concerned for the necessary explanations. In the districts of Porentruy, D-lemon, Franches-Montagnes, Lanfon, an extract from the Land Office register, in which the borrower is inscribed as owner of the property which is to be mortgaged, shall take the place of the deed of purchase. (2.) The incumbrances not yet cleared off, or the rights of third parties incumbering the property to be mortgaged, as well as the names of the creditors or of the claimants, the nature and date of the title, and the amount of the incumbrance or the nature of the claim. In the districts where the French law of mortgages is in force the Registrar of Mortgages shall mention the privileges or the legal mortgages incumbering the property to be given in guarantee (articles 2,103, 2,121, and 2,135 of the Civil Code). The Registrar of Mortgages is responsible for any fraud or negligence on his part in complying with the above provisions. Article 10. Thereupon the borrower forwards the documents, through the Registrar of Mortgages, to the Management of the Land-mortgage Bank, who submit them, accompanied by their report, to the directors. Article 11. The mortgage deeds relating to the loans granted by the bank shall be sent, in conformity with the regulations at the time in force for the establishment of new mortgages rights, by the Registrar of Mortgages to the Management of the bank. Article 12. The loan is paid to the borrower through the Registrar of Mortgages. This official at once copies the deed of mortgage in the public registers, and sees to the freeing of the mortgaged property from all rights of mortgage or claims which previously incumbered it, as well as to the fulfilment of all the other conditions Avhich the Land-mortgage Bank attaches to the loan; alter which he sends the title, accompanied by the necessary certificates, to the Landmortgage Bank. The Registrar is responsible to the bank for all consequences arising from the delay in the registration of the mortgage-bond, as well as for the complete settlement of every claim in connection with his right of mortgage, and in general for every deviation from the conditions under which the loan has been intrusted to him. Execution of the mortgager does not hinder the registration of the deed. Article 13. The bonds of the Land-mortgage Bank are not subject to the decennial reinscription required by the article 2,154 of the' French Civil Code, and the mortgage continues to exist in the order it occupies. This provision also applies to deeds already in existence in favour of the Land-mortgage Bank for which the order of priority is not yet extinguished.