§ 33:3958 — Installment payments and notes for deferred payments

The governing authority of the municipality may provide, in the ordinance accepting the work and making the assessment, that the property owners therein assessed, availing themselves of the privilege within ten days after the passage of the ordinance, may pay in cash twenty per cent of the amount of their indebtedness and pay the balance in four equal annual installments. As evidence of such deferred payments, the property owners shall sign and execute four promissory notes, payable to the order of the municipality, each for twenty per cent of the amount due by him, dated ten days after the passage of the ordinance accepting the work, maturing respectively, one, two, three and four years from that date, or sooner, at the option of the owner, bearing a maximum rate of six per cent yearly interest from date and ten per cent attorney's fees if placed in the hands of an attorney for collection after maturity, which notes, when paraphed by the city clerk or secretary to identify them with the ordinance levying the assessment, shall carry with them in the possession of any owner, the lien and privilege hereinabove provided for. The assessments and the notes, executed by the property owners pursuant to the provisions of this Sub-part, may be transferred by the municipality without recourse, to the contractor, at their face value, and the contractor, or any transferee thereof, shall enjoy the lien and privilege and all other rights provided in this Sub-part accruing to the municipality authorizing and ordering the work.