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Recovery of money
41.—(1) Any sum payable to the competent authority under this Act may be recoverable by the competent authority by action as a civil debt. (2) No proceedings for the recovery of any money payable under this Act are to be quashed or set aside in any court for want of form or procedure.
Proceedings for recovery of money due
42.—(1) Unless otherwise expressly provided in this Act, the competent authority has and may exercise the following additional powers for the purpose of recovering any money due under this Act:(a) the competent authority may issue a warrant of attachment and may seize by virtue thereof any movable property and crops of any person liable to pay any sum due, and may, after service of the prescribed notice, sell the same by public auction or in such manner as may be prescribed; (b) the competent authority may, by notice of sale to be served or published in the prescribed manner, declare the competent authority’s intention of selling, at the expiry of 3 months from the date of the notice of sale, any land belonging to the person from whom any sum is due and, if at the expiry of that period, that sum has not been paid or satisfied, the competent authority may sell, by public auction or otherwise, the whole of that land or such portion thereof or such interest therein as the competent authority considers sufficient for the recovery of that sum and costs. (2) Despite subsection (1), the competent authority must not proceed under subsection (1)(b) and sell the land of any person from whom any sum is due, or any portion thereof or interest therein, where there is upon the land and liable to be seized and sold under subsection (1)(a) movable property or crops belonging to that person of a value estimated by the competent authority to be sufficient to realise the sum required to satisfy the money due and costs. (3) Any tenant, subtenant or occupier (called in this subsection the relevant person) who, in order to avoid the seizure or sale of the land for non‑payment of any sum due from the owner of the land, pays that sum and costs may thereafter, in the absence of any written agreement to the contrary, deduct the amount so paid by the relevant person from the rent due or to become due by the relevant person to the relevant person’s immediate landlord on account of the land or such part thereof as is held or occupied by the relevant person, and may retain possession thereof until that amount has been fully reimbursed to the relevant person whether by deduction from the rent or otherwise. (4) Any tenant or subtenant (A) who has reimbursed, whether by allowing a deduction from the rent or otherwise, any subtenant or occupier (B) holding or occupying under A the amount so paid by B has a similar right to retain possession until similarly reimbursed. (5) The receipt of the competent authority or of any duly authorised officer for any amount so paid by any such tenant, subtenant or occupier is deemed to be an acquittance in full for the like amount of the rent. (6) If any land belonging to a person from whom any sum is due, or any movable property or crops that are mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or the proceeds of sale of that movable property or crops, is or are already in the custody of the law under any enforcement order whereby the competent authority is unable to exercise the powers vested in the competent authority by this section, the competent authority may notify the sheriff or the bailiff of the court concerned of the amount due, and the competent authority is entitled, without obtaining judgment, to be paid that amount out of the proceeds of sale of the land, movable property or crops in priority to the judgment debtor and to the judgment creditor and to any other creditor, except the Government.[Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] (7) A certificate from the competent authority is conclusive evidence of the amount of any sum that may be due.
Attachment
43.—(1) The attachment mentioned in section 42(1)(a) may be made by a person appointed for the purpose by the competent authority and that person must publicly notify the attachment in the prescribed manner and must take an inventory of the property attached. (2) For the purpose of effecting the attachment, the person appointed under subsection (1) may break into any house or building in the day time. (3) The person appointed under subsection (1) is deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871.
Application of proceeds
44.—(1) The proceeds of a sale under section 42(1) must be applied first in satisfaction of the sum due together with interest thereon at the rate of 9% per annum and costs. (2) In the event of there being any surplus remaining, the competent authority must —(a) if satisfied as to the right of any person claiming the surplus, pay the surplus to that person; or (b) if not so satisfied, hold the surplus in trust for the person who ultimately succeeds in due course of law in establishing the person’s title thereto. (3) If no title is established to that surplus at the end of 5 years after the date of the sale under section 42(1), the surplus must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Title conferred upon purchaser at a sale under section 42
45.—(1) The purchaser at a sale under section 42(1)(b) is deemed to have acquired the right or property offered for sale free from all encumbrances created over it and from all subordinate interests derived from it, except such as are expressly reserved by the competent authority at the time of the sale. (2) The competent authority must, by notification in the Gazette, notify the result of the sale and the conveyance or transfer to the purchaser of the right or property offered for sale.
Costs of proceedings for recovery of sum due
46. All costs and expenses incurred in the recovery of any sum due under this Act may be recovered as if they formed part of the sum due.
Power to stop sale
47. If any person, having any interest in any land liable to be sold at any time before the sale, tenders to the competent authority the sum due with interest and costs, the competent authority must then desist from all further proceedings in respect thereof.
Application to court
48.—(1) If any person whose movable property, crops or land has been attached or offered for sale under section 42 or 43 disputes the attachment or sale, the person may apply to the General Division of the High Court or, when the sum due does not exceed $1,000, to a District Court for an order to stay the proceedings.[40/2019] (2) After hearing the competent authority and after making such further inquiry as is necessary, the court is to make such order as it thinks fit.
Security to be given
49. No application is to be entertained by the court under section 48 unless the applicant has deposited in court the amount of the sum due and costs or has given security for that sum to the satisfaction of the court.
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Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. Read the official text ↗
Source: Singapore Statutes Online (Attorney-General's Chambers), © Government of Singapore.
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