Immigration.

Something came up in the forums today.

Is the GM the final arbiter of who becomes a citizen?
Consider that the GM performs the deed transactions. Is there any law or clause that requires a GM to sell a non-citizen land or to process the sale from a citizen to a non-citizen?
Is the GM required for citizen to sell to a non-citizen?

Until the deed is in your inv you are not a citizen, correct?

We know who is "eligible", but there is no legal guidance regarding who the GM must let in.

Am I wrong? I hope I am wrong.
Can I get an SC clarification on this?

* I believe the current process requires Sudane's participation in all deed transfers. (Sudane, as Treasurer, has to process the deed and collect the sales tax)
* The Treasurer is not allowed to discriminate based on race, sex, religion, etc.
* If an avatar believes he or she was unjustly denied the right to purchase available land, they can file a complaint with the SC.

That's my understanding of it as well.

Thanks for the clarification, Professor. As long as you can afford an available microplot, you're in. Essentially the "Ellis Island" approach. That seems good to me.

I plan to go into the mortgage business. Would I be able to mortgage by decree?

Here's the scenario:

Pelanor's NRC buys a plot in NB and provides a mortgage to Joe. The deed, along with the notarized promissory note is transferred (with GM) to Joe who is now a citizen. Pelanor pays the land fee on Joe's mortgaged land until the mortgage is paid.

I'll be talking to Sudane about specifics of liens etc., but from a citizenship standpoint, the deed holder is a citizen from the time the deed is accepted into inventory, correct?

Thanks!

Sounds reasonable to me, or else the whole mortgage business won't work at all, but there is some concern to what happens to the "mortgaged" citizen's plot if he defaults on the payment — and loses the plot to the bank. My question: now this citizen doesn't have a plot; is he still a citizen?

The way I read things is that: yes, of course he is, but feel free to discuss.

I am not as business minded as some are, and Pelanor's acronyms (GM & NRC) confuse me a lot, but I am not sure I like this idea at all.

I realise that the mortgage they way it is described here mimics the RL situation of a mortgage, but in RL citizenship in the country doesn't come with the house or piece of land. Also the whole concept of who "owns" the land is hazy in a RL mortgage and even hazier in terms of SL since we are all essentially "renting" etc.

In the scenario described, I would consider that Pelanor alone is the "citizen" of Nburg, not the mortgage holder.

If we allow this kind of citizenship, then as Pelanor says, it's like Ellis Island. Pretty much a wide open door policy. I feel the state should have some kind of control over who becomes a citizen and who doesn't.

What's to stop, for instance, someone mortgaging off a sizable lot in dozens and dozens of micro parcels, offering "sweetheart" deals to whomever they wish to have as citizens of Nburg? This would effectively boost the population by a huge percentage of people, perhaps voting/acting as a block to overturn the government.

I think the constitution says that a person is a citizen if (and only if) he or she has a deed to a plot of land. If Joe loses his deed as a consequence of non-payment, he should lose his citizenship.

Pelanor, yours seems to me a very strange scenario.

A mortgage is basically a loan. It is different from a simple loan, where you give me money, and I pay you back, only in the fact that the loan is "secured" by the value of the property which Joe bought.

I'm concerned that perhaps they do things differently in Canada than in the US, so I am reluctant to provide a "lecture" here on the fundamentals of borrowing money to pay for property. Instead, I'll just make some basic points on how offering a mortgage to a landowner would relate to transactions here in neualtenburg. Although I don't see a lot of demand being raised for them, I see no basic problem with mortgages in the NBurg environment.

Joe wishes to become a resident of Neualtenburg. He's read all the paperwork, and he's agreed to abide by the constitution and the covenants. I.e., he's ready to sign the deed. But... no money. So, he goes to your bank and requests a mortgage. You decide to offer him a mortage, with the proviso that he agrees to a "lien" on his deed which guarantees the bank first-in-line access to the value of that property, should Joe fail to pay.

Here in the US at least, a "lien" means that the bank has an "ownership stake" in the property in question, *to the extent of principal payments still to be made by the "deed" owner*. It does not *own* the property to the extent of the rights and obligations which are attached to that property. in fact, it has no claim on the property at all *except* to the cash value of any outstanding principal.

Very importantly, when Joe signs and assumes ownership of his property, he is entirely responsible for paying his taxes on that property (read... monthly fee). The bank has no obligation for this, nor should it have. Joe is the citizen with the rights and obligations that come with owning that land.

Of course, if Joe doesn't make his payments, then the bank has the right to "re-possess" that property. At that point, if Joe owns no other property in neualtenburg, he is no longer a citizen with either rights *or* obligations. He no longer has to pay the monthly fee, the bank does.

Here is where the requirement that the bank itself be an "entity" of Neualtenburg comes into play. Should the bank be forced to repossess the property, it must then needs be in agreement with the constitution and the covenants. Since this is not the case with any individual or institution which are not residents/entities of Neualtenburg, such a transaction, where a non-Neualtenburger might become owner of property here, would be unacceptable.

I think that the concepts here are straightforward, and it is perfectly reasonable that one entity lend to another entity for the purpose of buying land here.

And, just to clarify another point earlier in this thread...

The Treasurer/Estate Manager is the human being who is responsible for these functions, but technically, and importantly, the "Estate Manager" functions, as well as the bank account "functions" are invested in my alt, Rudeen Edo.

I say importantly, because, well, there's an important distinction between the roles of the two. Sudane is "me", my real person, as much as I can be real in a virtual place, and as such, has opinions, emotions, convictions... etc. Rudeen, on the other hand (and I hate to say this) is a "machine of the state". She is owner of the sim, in the eyes of the Lindens. As such, she can "Reclaim" land owned by individual residents, which not even designated Estate Managers (under 1.9) can do. In this lies the real authority of the Neualtenburg system. And, in this regard, it is very important that I as a human being make a distinction between Sudane and Rudeen.

As to the issue raised, Rudeen simply performs what is the will of the government of Neualtenburg, via whatever system they have decided upon. Sudane may not like it in the least, but that is Sudane's problem. As understood, at this time, any individual approaching me, wishing to purchase land in Neualtenburg, indicating their agreement to the terms of the deed, which includes reference to the constitution and the covenants, and, paying their money, will be offered a deed and have land ownership transferred to their group.


Sudane

Sudane:
Yes I agree, in fact mortgages are similar in both countries. Typically in RL the mortgagee would pay "land fee". If the morgagee sells to a 3rd party, the note indicates that the mortgage must be paid off. Perhaps I need to file a lien doc with the deed. My business plan might involve the NRC, which is an incorporated "citizen of NB" paying the land use fee only because in SL, unlike real life, the tier or land use fee is generally quite large compared to the purchase price. So it makes sense to offer 4, 8, or 12 week mortgages. Of course the feudal way is mortgage by demise where I give the mortgagee the deed only after the mortgage is paid in full. In this case, the borrower isn't a citizen until the last payment is made. Bank would be forced to pay the land use in that scenario, because you don't want land use money from a person without a deed in hand. I'll have to do this on the main land, for instance because it's not a managed sim. BTW do you have the incorporation template? The code says Kendra (as head of the Coc) has it. Claude mentioned that you are the only person to see to set up shop. Thanks!

Dianne/Gwynn:
NRC: Neualtenburg Registered Company
GM: GuildMaster

I agree with Sudane that during foreclosure, the mortgagee loses the deed and citizenship if no other land is owned. You are right about a pre-election population surge, but really money is little or no object when becoming a citizen because a faction can have 20 non-citizens buy super cheap microplots from Rudeen for a month, vote and then sell/leave. Offering mortgages doesn't change that dynamic. We might need to legislate some immigration reform around eligibility/desirability. Of course I'm not offering mortgages on anything less than 512m2 because my time is worth more than the very small profit.

Ok, for mortgage by decree:

One month land use downpayment. Bank pays the land use and then deeds the land over to to the mortagee and bank files lien with city. Bank is NRC Inc. The promissory note becomes binding the minute the deed is in the mortgagees inv.

So we have a consensus SC ruling that you are a citizen if and only if you have Neualtenburg deed in your inventory. Maybe we need passports.