(a) In case the Authority may be in default in the payment of the principal or the interest on any of its bonds after such payment or payments are due, be it in default in the payment of the principal or interest only at the maturity of said bonds or when their redemption is announced, and said default in the payment persists for a period of thirty (30) days, or in case the Authority or its officers, agents or employees violate any agreement with the bondholders, any bondholder or bondholders (subject to any contractual limitation as to any specific percentage of said bondholders) or trustee thereof, shall be entitled to solicit from any court with competent jurisdiction in Puerto Rico and through the proper judicial proceeding, the appointment of a trustee for the properties or part thereof whose income or revenues are committed for the payment of the overdrawn bonds whether all bonds have been declared matured and payable and whether said bondholder or trustee solicits or not or has solicited or not that any other right be complied with or that any other remedy be exercised in relation to said bonds. The court, according to said petition, may designate a trustee for said properties but if the petition is made by the holders of twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total of the principal of the outstanding bonds or by any trustee of the bondholders for said amount of the principal, the court shall be bound to appoint a trustee for said properties.
(b) The trustee so appointed may immediately proceed, on his/her own or through his/her agents and attorneys, to enter into and take possession of said properties and may totally exclude the Authority, its officers, agents and employees and all those under these, from said properties and shall have, possess, use, exploit, administer and regulate the same, and in the name of the Authority or otherwise, as the trustee may believe is better, he/she shall exercise all the rights and powers of the Authority regarding said properties as the Authority itself would. Said trustee shall conserve, restore, insure and keep insured said properties and shall make the necessary and proper repairs which from time to time he/she may deem opportune and shall establish, impose, maintain and collect the tariffs, fees, rental payments and other charges in relation to said properties which said trustee may deem necessary, proper and reasonable and shall collect and receive all revenues and rental payments and deposit these in a separate account and apply the revenues and rental payments thus collected and received in the manner ordered by the court.
(c) When all that is owed on the bonds, including the interest on these and on any other promissory notes, bonds or other obligations and the interest on these which constitutes a burden, obligation or lien on the rental payments of said properties, according to any of the terms of any contract or agreement with the bondholders, has been paid or deposited as specified in said bonds, and all violations as a consequence of which a trustee may be designated, have been remedied and corrected, the court at its discretion, after the notice and the public hearing as the latter may deem reasonable and proper, may order the trustee to give possession of said properties to the Authority and in cases of subsequent violations the same rights of the bondholders shall remain for obtaining the appointment of a trustee as provided above.
(d) Said trustee, in compliance with the powers herein conferred, shall act under the direction and inspection of the court, shall always be subject to its orders and decrees and may be discharged thereby. None of the contents of this chapter shall limit or restrict the jurisdiction of the court to issue those other additional decrees or orders it may deem necessary or proper for the exercise by the trustee of any of the functions specifically indicated in this chapter.
(e) Any provision contrary to the contents of this section notwithstanding, said trustee shall not have the power to sell, transfer, mortgage or otherwise dispose of the properties of the Authority, but the powers of said trustee shall be limited to the exploitation and conservation of said properties and to the collection and application of their revenues and rental payments and the court shall have no jurisdiction to issue any order or decree requiring or permitting that said trustee sell, mortgage or otherwise dispose of any property.
History —Sept. 29, 2004, No. 508, § 16.