Title 12, Title 12: Court Procedure

§ 4631. Mediation program established (a) This subchapter establishes a program to assure the availability of mediation and application of government loss mitigation program requirements in actions for foreclosure of a mortgage on any dwelling house of four units or less that is …

§ 4632. Opportunity to mediate (a) In an action for foreclosure subject to this subchapter, whenever the mortgagor requests mediation prior to four months after judgment is entered and before the end of the redemption period specified in the decree, the court shall refer the case…

§ 4633. Mediation (a) During all mediations under this subchapter: (1) The parties shall address the available foreclosure prevention tools and, if disputed, the amount due on the note for the principal, interest, and costs or fees. (2) The mortgagee shall use and consider availa…

§ 4634. Mediation report (a) Within seven days of the conclusion of any mediation under this subchapter, the mediator shall report in writing the results of the process to the court and both parties, and shall provide a copy of the report to the Office of the Attorney General for…

§ 4635. Compliance with obligations (a) Upon receipt of a mediator’s report required by subsection 4634(a) of this title, the court shall determine whether the mortgagee or servicer has complied with all of its obligations under subsection 4633(a) of this title, and, at a minimum…

§ 4637. No waiver of rights; costs of mediation (a) The parties’ rights in a foreclosure action are not waived by their participation in mediation under this subchapter. (b) The mortgagee shall pay the required costs for any mediation under this subchapter except that the mortgag…

§ 4671. Justice may take confession of judgment A justice may accept and record a confession of a debt to a creditor made by a debtor personally, either with or without antecedent process, as the parties shall agree, and render judgment on such confession; but such judgment shall…

§ 4672. Effect on attachments A judgment so rendered by confession, after the commencement of the suit, shall have the same effect to hold property attached or bail taken on mesne process, as if judgment had been rendered in the ordinary course of proceedings; but a confession of…

§ 4673. Trustee actions In an action in which a trustee is summoned, the plaintiff may accept the tender of confession of judgment by the defendant therein without prejudice to such action. Upon filing the same in court, the cause shall proceed as if it were made in open court.

§ 4711. Declaratory judgment; scope Superior Courts within their jurisdictions shall have power to declare rights, status, and other legal relations whether or not further relief is or could be claimed. An action or proceeding shall not be open to objection on the grounds that a …

§ 4712. Party plaintiff; power to construe A person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writings constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may have deter…

§ 4713. Before breach of contracts A contract may be construed either before or after there has been a breach thereof.

§ 4714. Fiduciaries; executors A person interested as or through an executor, administrator, trustee, guardian, or other fiduciary, creditor, devisee, legatee, heir, next of kin, or cestui que trust, in the administration of a trust, or of the estate of a decedent, an infant, a p…

§ 4715. Construction; general powers of court The enumeration in sections 4712-4714 of this title does not limit or restrict the exercise of the general powers conferred in section 4711 of this title, in any proceeding where declaratory relief is sought, in which a judgment or de…

§ 4716. Refusal to enter judgment; discretion of court The court may refuse to render or enter a declaratory judgment or decree where such judgment or decree, if rendered or entered, would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to the proceeding.

§ 4717. Review All orders, judgments, and decrees under this chapter may be reviewed as other orders, judgments, and decrees.

§ 4718. Further proceedings Further relief based on a declaratory judgment or decree may be granted whenever necessary or proper. The application therefor shall be by petition to a court having jurisdiction to grant the relief. When the application is deemed sufficient, on reason…

§ 4719. Jury trial When a proceeding under this chapter involves the determination of an issue of fact, or a mixed issue of law and fact, such issue may be tried in the court in which the proceeding is pending and determined in the same manner as issues of fact and mixed issues o…

§ 4720. Costs In any proceedings under this chapter, the court may make such award of costs as may seem equitable and just.

§ 4721. Parties When declaratory relief is sought, all persons shall be made parties who have or claim any interest which would be affected by the declaration, and no declaration shall prejudice the rights of persons not parties to the proceeding. In any proceeding which involves…

§ 4722. Construction This chapter is declared to be remedial. Its purpose is to settle and to afford relief from uncertainty and insecurity with respect to rights, status, and other legal relations and it is to be liberally construed and administered.

§ 4723. Definition The word “person” wherever used in this chapter shall be construed to mean any person, partnership, joint stock company, unincorporated association or society, or municipal or other corporation of any character whatsoever.

§ 4724. Separability of provisions The several sections and provisions of this chapter, except sections 4711 and 4712, are hereby declared independent and severable, and the invalidity, if any, of any part or feature thereof shall not affect or render the remainder of the chapter…

§ 4725. Uniformity of interpretation This chapter shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it, and as far as possible to harmonize with federal laws and regulations on the subject of declaratory…

§ 4761. When maintainable; parties A person having claim to the seisin or possession of lands, tenements, or hereditaments shall have an action of ejectment, according to the nature of the case, which shall be brought as well against the landlord, if any, as against the tenant in…

§ 4762. When judgment shall not prejudice landlord When the plaintiff neglects to join the landlord, if any, with the tenant in such action, or by collusion with the tenant recovers judgment against him or her for the seisin of lands, such landlord shall not be prejudiced thereby…

§ 4763. When all tenants are not sued; disclaimer The writ in the action of ejectment shall not abate because all the tenants are not sued, but those on whom service is made shall answer for such part of the premises only as they set forth in their answer, and disclaim as to the …

§ 4764. Recovery according to right On trial in an action of ejectment, the plaintiff shall recover on the merits, according to his or her right.

§ 4765. Damages; transfer of title pending action If judgment is rendered for the plaintiff in an action of ejectment, he or she shall recover his or her damages and the seisin and possession of the premises. If the title of the plaintiff expires or is conveyed by him or her afte…

§ 4766. Effect of judgment While remaining in force, the judgment recovered in an action of ejectment shall be conclusive against the parties thereto, their heirs, and assigns.

§ 4773. Ejectment for nonpayment of rent; proof; payment In actions of ejectment for nonpayment of rent, the plaintiff shall not be required to prove a demand of the rent in arrear or a stipulation for reentry on nonpayment of rent or a reentry on the premises, but shall recover …

§ 4811. When and for what maintainable When the plaintiff commences an action of ejectment, the defendant shall counterclaim for the value of the improvements made upon the land by him or her or by those under whom he or she claims, if he or she or his or her predecessors in titl…

§ 4813. Proceedings in ejectment stayed; lands charged Final judgment shall not be entered upon the claim for ejectment until entry of final judgment on the counterclaim. The lands recovered by the plaintiff shall be held to respond to any judgment on the counterclaim for the def…

§ 4814. Improvements considered The damages in the action of ejectment arising from mesne profits shall be such only as are just and equitable, in view of improvements made upon the premises by the defendant or those under whom he or she claims.

§ 4815. Execution to issue against land only Execution on a judgment rendered on a counterclaim for betterments shall issue only against the land recovered in the action of ejectment, and not against the body or the other lands or the goods and chattels of the plaintiff in that a…

§ 4816. When execution or writ of possession may issue When the defendant recovers judgment on his or her counterclaim for betterments, execution shall not issue thereon until four months from its rendition. The writ of possession in the action of ejectment shall be further staye…

§ 4817. When entry was under contract Sections 4811-4816 of this title relating to betterments shall not extend to a person who has entered on land under a contract made with the legal owner, unless it appears on trial of the counterclaim for betterments that the owner has not fu…

§ 4818. Remedy against voucher Sections 4811-4817 of this title shall not deprive a person of cause of action against his or her voucher, and the voucher may present evidence, in mitigation of damages, of the recovery of the defendant for betterments. (Amended 1971, No. 185 (Adj.…

§ 4819. Dismissal by plaintiff Further proceedings shall not be had on the counterclaim for betterments when the judgment is awarded to the plaintiff on his or her claim of title and he or she, within 30 days of the rendition of judgment, shall lodge with the clerk a warranty dee…

§ 4820. Valuation determined After such deed is so lodged, the court shall appoint a committee of three disinterested persons from the vicinity in which the land lies, who, on oath, shall ascertain what would then have been the value of such land if betterments had not been made …

§ 4821. Value paid; no further proceedings Further proceedings shall not be had on the judgment rendered in the action of ejectment, when the defendant pays to the plaintiff or to the clerk of the court for the use of the plaintiff or his or her legal representatives, the sum rep…

§ 4822. Value not paid; writ to issue When the defendant does not pay an installment of the sum so reported, with costs and interest from the date of the deed, such deed shall be returned to the plaintiff, and the writ of possession and execution for the costs shall issue accordi…

§ 4823. Rights of a representative When either party dies pending the proceedings as to betterments, his or her executor or administrator may do, as to such proceedings for betterments, whatever the deceased party could have done had he or she been living. A conveyance by an exec…

§ 4824. Previous limitations not to apply The provisions of this chapter relating to betterments shall extend to the cases therein provided for, as though acts of limitation or sections of such acts had not been passed.

§ 4851. Issuance of process by Superior judge When the lessee of lands or tenements, either by parole or written lease, or a person holding under the lease, holds possession of the demised premises without right, after the termination of the lease by its own limitation or after b…

§ 4852. Mode of process; declaration; trial by jury The process may issue as a summons or writ of attachment, requiring the defendant to appear and answer to the complaint of the plaintiff which shall state that the defendant is in the possession of the lands or tenements in ques…