V-3 - Act respecting the sale of unclaimed goods

Repealed on 1 January 1994

This document has official status.

chapter V-3

Act respecting the sale of unclaimed goods

Repealed, 1992, c. 57, s. 710.

1992, c. 57, s. 710.

1. All wharfingers, warehouse-keepers, agents, steamboat proprietors or companies, canal or railway officers and servants, stage proprietors and other persons in whose custody any unclaimed goods or articles remain, shall advertise once in every month, in at least one newspaper printed in the city of Québec and in one printed in the city of Montréal, a list and description, with the marks, numbers and addresses, if any, of such unclaimed goods and articles.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 1.

2. Such list shall contain a notice to all persons who claim any of such goods, to come within six months from the date of such notice, to prove that they are owners of any of such goods, and to receive the same, upon payment of any charge for freight, carriage or otherwise that has accrued thereon, with a proportionate share of the expense of advertising, and a reasonable charge for wharfage or storage.

Such list shall also contain a notice that, at the expiration of the said six months, packages, parcels and other articles then remaining unclaimed will be opened and examined, and if nothing appears therein whereby to ascertain the names of the owners, consignees or persons entitled to receive the same, that then, at the expiration of six months thereafter, the same will be sold by auction, and the proceeds, deducting all expenses, deposited in the hands of the Minister of Finance.

Fruit and other perishable articles shall be immediately advertised, and may be sold within one week after the date of such advertisement.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 2.

3. If, upon opening such packages or parcels, the names of the owners, consignees or other persons entitled to receive the same are ascertained, the person in whose possession such packages or parcels remain shall send, by post or other safe means, a written notice to such owners, consignees or persons entitled to receive the same, with an intimation to come and claim the same within six months, and that in default thereof they will be sold by public auction, as provided in sections 1 and 2.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 3.

4. Immediately after twelve months from the date of such advertisement, the person in whose custody they are shall cause them to be sold by public auction, and shall forthwith cause the proceeds of such sale, after deducting the charges and expenses, to be paid to the Minister of Finance.

Such person, at the same time, shall deposit a separate account of sales for each package, which statement shall remain in the office of the Minister of Finance, subject to all further just claims for any part of the proceeds of such sale.

Any person whose goods have been so sold, and the proceeds of the sale paid over to the Minister of Finance, shall receive the amount of such proceeds from the Minister of Finance, upon a warrant to be issued by the Lieutenant-Governor, after sufficient proof that the person claiming is entitled to the same.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 4.

5. If any dispute arise between the claimant of such articles and the person in whose possession they are, either with respect to the legality of the claim or with respect to the amount charged for storage, wharfage and other expenses thereon, the same shall be determined in a summary way before a justice of the peace, within four days after application made to him for that purpose by either party.

The costs shall in no case exceed $2 in all, and shall be paid by the party against whom such decision is given, and, in default of payment, shall be levied by seizure and sale of his goods and effects under a warrant signed by any justice of the peace.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 5.

6. Every holder of unclaimed articles who neglects to comply with the foregoing provisions shall incur a penalty not exceeding one-fourth of the appraised value of the goods detained.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 6; 1992, c. 61, s. 624.

7. Launderers or dyers in possession of articles deposited in their custody to be washed, ironed, cleaned or dyed, subject to remuneration, may, if the articles are not claimed within the twelve months following their deposit, cause them to be sold by an auctioneer. No such sale may be made except on the date fixed in a notice published in a French newspaper and in an English newspaper of the locality, or, in case there be no French newspaper or no English newspaper published in such locality, in the French newspaper or the English newspaper, as the case may be, published in the nearest place thereto. An interval of two weeks must elapse between the date of the notice and that of the sale.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 7.

8. The depositary has the right to retain, out of the proceeds of the sale, the costs of the notice and sale as well as that of washing and ironing and of cleaning and dyeing and must deposit the balance, if any, in accordance with section 17 of the Deposit Act (chapter D-5).

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 8; 1970, c. 17, s. 101.

9. Fur merchants, the owners of fur making and repairing workshops and, generally, all those who trade in and repair furs, in possession of articles deposited in their custody to be stored, repaired or altered, subject to remuneration, may, if the articles are not claimed within the eighteen months following their deposit, cause them to be sold by an auctioneer. No such sale may be made except on the date fixed in a notice given by registered or certified letter to the last known address of the owner of the article and in a notice published in a French newspaper and in an English newspaper of the locality. If there be only one newspaper in the locality or if all of them be published in the same language, the notice shall be inserted in both languages in the same newspaper. If there be no newspaper in the locality the notice shall be inserted in a French newspaper and in an English newspaper published in the nearest place thereto and if there be but one newspaper published in such place then in both languages in the same newspaper. An interval of two weeks must elapse between the date of the notice and that of the sale.

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 9; 1975, c. 83, s. 84.

10. The depositary of such articles has the right to retain, out of the proceeds of the sale, the cost of the notice and sale as well as that of repairing, altering or storing and must deposit the balance, if any, in accordance with section 17 of the Deposit Act (chapter D-5).

R. S. 1964, c. 316, s. 10; 1970, c. 17, s. 101.

11. (This section ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987).

1982, c. 21, s. 1; U. K., 1982, c. 11, Sch. B, Part I, s. 33.

REPEAL SCHEDULE

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 316 of the Revised Statutes, 1964, in force on 31 December 1977, is repealed effective from the coming into force of chapter V-3 of the Revised Statutes.