Bills of Sale (CAP. 51 1

CHAPTER 51

T H E BILLS O F SALE ACT

Arrangement of Sections
Section

1. Short title.
2. Application of Act.
3. Interpretation.
4. Certain instruments giving powers of distress to be sub-

ject to this Act.
5. Fixtures or growing crops not to be deemed separately

assigned when the land passes by the same
instrument.

6. Avoidance of unregistered bills of sale in certain cases.
7. Avoidance of certain duplicate bills of sale.
8. Mode of registering bills of sale.
9. Renewal of registration.

10. Form of register.
11. The Registrar.
12. Rectification of register.
13. Entry of satisfaction.
14. Copies may be taken, etc.
15. Affidavits.
16. Fees.
17. Order and disposition.
18. Rules.
19. Time for registration.

FIRST SCHEDULE.
SECOND SCHEDULE.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Bills of Sale (CAP. 5 1 3

BILLS OF SALE

1. This Act may be cited as the Bills of Sale Act. Short title.

2. This Act shall apply to every bill of sale executed ;~[lication of
on or after the 1st day of October, 1882, (whether the same
be absolute, or subject or not subject to any trust) whereby
the holder or grantee has power, either with or without notice,
and immediately or at any hture time, to seize or take posses-
sion of any personal chattels comprised in, or made subject
to, such bill of sale.

3. In this Act- Interpretation.
"bill of sale" includes bills of sale, assignments,

transfers, declarations of trust without transfer,
inventories of goods with receipt thereto attached
or receipts for purchase moneys of goods, and other
assurances of personal chattels, and also powers of
attorney, authorities or licences to take possession
of personal chattels as security for any debt, and
also any agreement, whether intended or not to be
followed by the execution of any other instrument,
by which a right in equity to any personal chat-
tels, or to any charge or security thereon, shall be
conferred, but shall not include the following
documents; that is to say, assignments for the
benefit of the creditors of the person making or giv-
ing the same, marriage settlements, transfers or
assignments of any ship or vessel or any share
thereof, transfers of goods in the ordinary course
of business of any trade or calling, bills of sale of
goods in foreign parts or at sea, bills of lading, India
warrants, warehouse keepers' certificates, warrants
or orders for the delivery of goods or any other
documents used in the ordinary course of business
as proof of the possession or control of goods, or
authorizing or purporting to authorize, either by
indorsement or by delivery, the possessor of such

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

CAP. 51) Bills of Sale

documents to transfer or receive goods thereby
represented.

"personal chattels" means goods, furniture and other
articles capable of complete transfer by delivery,
and (when separately assigned or charged) fixtures
and growing crops, but shall not include chattel
interests in Teal estate, nor fixtures (except trade
machinery as defined in section 5 of the "Bills of
Sale Act, 1878" (Imperial), the provisions of which
section are hereby declared to be in force within
Antigua and Barbuda as part of this Act), when
assigned together with a freehold or leasehold
interest in any land or building to which they are
affixed, nor growing crops when assigned together
with any interest in the land on which they grow,
nor shares or interests in the stock. funds or
securities of any Government, or in the capital or
property of incorporated or joint stock companies,
nor choses in action, nor any stock or produce upon
any plantation or estate or lands, which, by virtue
of any covenant or agreement, or of the custom
of the country, ought not to be removed from any
plantation or estate where the same are at the time
of making or giving of such bill of sale.

Personal chattels, shall be deemed to be in the
'6 apparent possession" of the person making or giv-
ing a bill of sale, so long as they remain or are in,
or upon, any house, warehouse, building, works,
yard, land or other premises occupied by him, or
are used and enjoyed by him in any place what-
soever, notwithstanding that formal possession
thereof may have been taken by, or given to, any
other person.

Certain 4. Every attornment, instrument or agreement, not
instruments
giving powers of being a mining lease, whereby a power of distress is given,
distress to be or agreed to be given, by any person to any other person,
subject to this
A C ~ . by way of security for any present, future or contingent debt

or advance, and whereby any rent is reserved, or made
payable, as a mode of providing for the payment of interest
on such debt or advance, or otherwise for the purpose of
such security only, shall be deemed to be a bill of sale, within

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Bills of Sale (CAP. 5 1 5

the meaning of this Act, of any personal chattels which may
be seized or taken under such power of distress:

Provided that nothing in this section shall extend to any
mortgage of any estate or interest in any land, tenement or
hereditament, which the mortgagee, being in possession, shall
have demised to the mortgagor as his tenant at a fair and
reasonable rent.

5 . No fixtures or growing crops shall be deemed, f:;:;; zPS
under this Act, to be separately assigned or charged, by to be deemed
reason only that they are assigned by separate words, or that separately

assigned when power is given to sever them from the land or building to the land passes
which they are affixed, or from the land on which they grow, by the Same

instrument.
without otherwise taking possession of or dealing with such
land or building, or land, if, by the same instrument, any
freehold or leasehold interest in the land or building to which
such fixtures are affixed, or in the land on which such crops
grow, is also conveyed or assigned to the same persons or
person.

6. Every bill of sale to which this Act applies shall ~;;$(;e:fhills
be duly attested, and shall be registered under this Act within sale in certain
seven days after the making or giving thereof, and shall set cases.
forth the consideration for which such bill of sale was given,
otherwise such bill of sale, as against all trustees or assignees
of the estate of the person whose chattels, or any of them,
are comprised in such bill of sale; under the law relating
to bankruptcy, or under any assignment for the benefit of
the creditors of such person, and also as against all persons
seizing any chattels comprised in such bill of sale, in the
execution of any process of any Court authorizing the seizure
of the chattels of the person by whom or of whose chattels,
such bill has been made, and also as against every person
on whose behalf such process shall have been issued, shall
be deemed fraudulent and void so far as regards the property
in, or right to, the possession of any chattels comprised in
such bill of sale, which, at or after the time of filing the peti-
tion for bankruptcy, or of the execution of such assignment,
or of executing such process (as the case may be), and after
the expiration of such seven days, are in the possession, or
apparent possession, of the person making such bill of sale,
or of any person against whom the process has issued, under
or in the execution of which such bill has been made or given
as the case may be.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

CAP. 51) Bills of Sale

Avoidance of
certain duplicate

7. Where a subsequent bill of sale is executed within,
bills of sale. or on the expiration of, seven days after the execution of

a prior unregistered bill of sale, akd comprises all, or any
part, of the personal chattels comprised in such prior bill
of sale, then, if such subsequent bill of sale is given as a
security for the same debt as is secured by the prior bill of
sale, or for any part of such debt, it shall, to the extent to
which it is a security for the same debt, or part thereof, and
so far as respects the personal chattels, or part thereof, com-
prised in the prior bill, be absolutely void, unless it is proved
to the satisfaction of the Court having cognizance of the case
that the subsequent bill of sale was bonafide given for the
purpose of correcting some material error in the prior bill
of sale and not for the purpose of evading this Act.

Mode of
registering bills

8. (1) A bill of sale shall be attested and registered
of sale. under this Act in the following manner-

(a) The execution of every bill of sale shall be
attested by a solicitor of the Supreme Court, and the
attestation shall state that, before the execution of the
bill of sale, the effect thereof has been explained to the
grantor by the attesting solicitor.

(6) Such bill, with every schedule or inventory
thereto annexed or therein referred to, and also a true
copy of such bill and of every such schedule or inven-
tory, and of every attestation of the execution of such
bill of sale, together with an affidavit of the time of such
bill of sale being made or given, and of its due execu-
tion and attestation, and a description of the residence
and occupation of the person making or giving the same
(or in case the same is made or given by any person
under or in the execution of any process, then a descrip-
tion of the residence and occupation of the person against
whom such process issued), and of every attesting witness
to such bill of sale, shall be presented to, and the said
copy and affidavit shall be filed with the Registrar within
seven clear days after the making or giving of such bill
of sale.

(c) If the bill of sale is made or given subject to
any defeasance or condition or declaration of trust not
contained in the body thereof, such defeasance, condi-
tion or declaration shall be deemed to be part of the

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Bills of Sale (CAP. 51 7

bill, and shall be written upon the same paper or par-
chment therewith before the registration, and shall be
truly set forth in the copy filed under this Act, and as
part thereof, otherwise the registration shall be void.

(2) In case two or more bills are given, comprising in
whole or in part any of the same chattels, they shall have
priority in the order of the date of their registration respec-
tively as regards such chattels.

(3) A transfer or assignment of a registered bill of sale
need not be registered.

9. (1) The registration of a bill of sale must be renew- Renewal of
registration. ed once at least every five years, and, if a period of five years

elapses from the registration, or renewed registration, of a
bill of sale without a renewal or further renewal (as the case
may be), the registration shall become void. The renewal
of a registration shall be effected by filing with the Registrar
an affidavit stating the date of the bill of sale and of the last
registration thereof, and the names, residences and occupa-
tions, of the parties thereto as stated therein, and that the
bill of sale is still a subsisting security.

(2) Every such affidavit may be in the form set forth
in the First Schedule. First Schedule.

(3) A renewal of registration shall not become necessary
by reason of a transfer or assignment of a bill of sale.

10. (1) The Registrar shall keep a book (in this Act Form of register.
called "the register") for the purposes of this Act and shall,
upon the filing of any bill of sale or copy under this Act,
enter therein, in the form set forth in the Second Schedule, Second Schedule.
or in any other prescribed form, the name, residence and
occupation of the person by whom the bill was made or given
(or, in case the same was made or given by any person under
or in the execution of process, then the name, residence and
occupation of the person against whom such process was
issued, and also the name of the person or persons to whom
or in whose favour the bill was given) and the other par-
ticulars shown in the said Schedule, or to be prescribed under
this Act, and shall number all such bills registered in each
year consecutively, according to the respective dates of their

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

8 CAP. 51) Bills of Sale

registration. Upon the registration of any affidavit of renewal,
the like entry shall be made, with the addition of the date
and number of the last previous entry relating to the same
bill, and the bill of sale or copy originally filed shall be
thereupon marked with the number affixed to such affidavit
of renewal. The Registrar shall also keep an index of the
names of the grantors of registered bills of sale with reference
to entries in the register of the bills of sale given by each
such grantor.

(2) Such index shall be arranged in divisions correspon-
ding with the letters of the alphabet, so that all grantors whose
surnames begin with the same letter (and no others) shall
be comprised in one division, but the arrangement within
each such division need not be strictly alphabetical.

The Registrar. 1 . The Registrar of the High Court shall be the
Registrar for the purposes of this Act.

Rectification of
register.

12. Any Judge, on being satisfied that the omission
to register a bill of sale, or an affidavit of renewal thereof,
within the time prescribed by this Act, or the omission or
mis-statement of the name, residence, or occupation of any
person was accidental or due to inadvertence, may, in his
discretion, order such omission or mis-statement to be rec-
tified by the insertion in the register of the true name,
residence, or occupation, or by extending the time for such
registration, on such terms and conditions, if any, as to secur-
ity, notice by advertisement or otherwise, or as to any other
matter, as he thinks fit to direct.

Entry of
satisfaction.

13. Subject to and in accordance with any rules to
be made under and for the purposes of this Act, the Registrar
may order a memorandum of satisfaction to be written upon
any registered copy of a bill of sale, upon the prescribed
evidence being given that the debt, if any, for which such
bill of sale was made or given, has been satisfied or
discharged.

Copies may be
taken, etc.

14. Any person shall be entitled to have an office
copy, or extract, of any registered bill of sale and affidavit
of execution filed therewith, or copy thereof, and of any
affidavit filed therewith, if any, or registered affidavit of
renewal, upon paying for the same at the like rate as for

LAWS OF AWTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Bills of Sale (CAP. 51 9

office copies of judgments of the High Court, and any copy
of a registered bill of sale and affidavit, purporting to be
an office copy thereof, shall, in all Courts and before all
arbitrators or other persons, be admitted as prima facie
evidence thereof, and of the fact and date of registration as
shown thereon. Any person shall be entitled, at all reasonable
times, to search the register and every registered bill of sale,
upon payment of twenty-four cents for every copy of a bill
of sale inspected, which payment shall be made by stamp.

15. (1) Every affidavit required by, or for the pur- Affidavits.
poses of, this Act may be sworn before the Registrar of the
High Court.

(2) Whosoever wilfully makes or uses any false affidavit
for the purposes of this Act shall be deemed guilty of wilful
and corrupt perjury.

16. There shall be paid and received in stamps the Fees.
following fees, viz-

$ c.

O n filing a bill of sale ............................ 48
On filing the affidavit of execution of a bill of sale .48

O n the affidavit used for the purposes of re-
registering a bill of sale (to include the fee

.......................................... for filing) 1.20

17. Chattels comprised in a bill of sale which has 2;gsi;;d,,
been, and continues to be, duly registered under this Act,
shall not be deemed to be in the possession, order or disposi-
tion of the grantor of the bill of sale within the meaning of
the Bankruptcy Act. Cap. 41

18. Rules for the purposes of this Act may be made Rules.
and altered, from time to time, in like manner as rules of
the Supreme Court may be made and altered.

19. When the time for registering a bill of sale expires Time registration. for
on a Sunday, or other day on which the Registrar's office
is closed, the registration shall be valid if made on the next
following day on which the office is open.

IAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

10 CAP. 51) Bills of Sale

FIRST S C H E D U L E s. 9(2 )

1, , of , do swear
that a bill of sale, bearing date the day of
19 , (insert the date of the bill), and made between (insert the names
and descriptions of the parties in the ortginal bill of sale), and which said
bill of sale (or a copy of which bill of sale, as the case may be) was
registered on the day of 19
(insert date of registration), is still a subsisting security.

Sworn, etc.

S E C O N D SCHEDULE S. lO(1)

Satisfaction
entered

No.

By whom given (or
against whom process

issued To
whom
given.

Name.

' 3
u E
2 2
Y m I m
2 . 5

Resi-
dence.

Occu-
pation d

c'
0 . -

'2
2.5
d ?

. V1 -"
E L L O
Lo--.
0 c .5 6
2.24 5
m 6 G G
0 2 % :