V.I. Code tit. 21, § 7 (2019)
2019 US Virgin Islands Code|Title 21 - Homesteads and Home Loans|Chapter 1 - General Provisions|§ 7. Homestead contracts; conveyances, terms and provisions

 In the name of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and with the approval of the Governor, the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall issue contracts for the purchase and sale of homestead plots or issue deeds of conveyance either in fulfilment of a contract or as a cash sale transaction. Power is hereby delegated to the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority to prescribe the terms and conditions of the contract of sale and purchase and deed of conveyance. As a standard for guidance of the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority in drafting of the necessary documents, the following objectives are set forth and are to be complied with by the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority depending upon the circumstances of the purchase: (1) A contract shall require payment by the purchaser within a period of 10 years with payment due monthly or quarterly and shall be so computed that each payment upon principal shall be equal to each other payment upon principal. Interest on the deferred balance of the purchase price shall be payable in addition to the principal installment. The deferred balance and balances of principal on the purchase contract shall bear simple interest at the rate of 4 percent per annum; (2) The formal documents of purchase either by contract or by deed shall require the purchaser to commence construction of a residence within 5 years after the date of the formal document; Provided, however, That the provisions of this subparagraph shall not apply to veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States or minors. In all cases where by reason of topography or other causes, the land is inaccessible from the public roads, the formal documents of purchase, either by contract or by deed, shall also require that the Government provide adequate access roads to the land; (3) In the case of a transaction by way of contract of purchase, the remedy of the Government for default of the purchaser or his successors whether voluntary or by operation of law as to any material element of the contract shall be by forfeiture of the interest of the purchaser. In the case of a transaction made by conveyance, the remedy of the Government for default as to a material element shall be by termination of his fee simple estate. This shall be done by appropriate provision in the deed of conveyance creating an estate of fee simple defeasible in the grantee, defeasible upon the happening of such event as in the discretion of the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority is deemed appropriate in the carrying out of the purposes of this legislation; (4) Purchasers of allotted land under this program shall not, within a period of 25 years from the date of the document first vesting an interest of the purchaser in the land allotted, lease, sublease, sell or transfer by gift or otherwise the land involved without the prior written consent of the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority. The foregoing restraints upon alienation shall not be construed to apply to a devise or other transfers by operation of law brought about by reason of the death of the purchaser; (5) In the event of the termination of the interest of a contract purchaser or grantee, the amounts of principal paid by such person or his predecessors shall be returned by the Government less one-third thereof to compensate the Government for the administrative expenses in administering this program; (6) All documents issued under this program shall give the Government a first priority option to repurchase the land allotted at the same purchase price plus the value of any improvements made thereon by the owner or his predecessors which increases the value of the real property; provided, however, that in the event the grantee shall not be satisfied with the valuation of improvements as determined by the Government, he shall give notice in writing thereof to the Government within 15 days of the receipt of such valuation, and the valuation shall be determined thereafter by three disinterested appraisers appointed by the District Court upon application of either the Government or grantee or both, which valuation shall be final and binding on both parties; provided, further, and notwithstanding any other law, veteran owned land under the provisions of this chapter, shall be transferred back into the homestead provisions of this chapter for sale to other veterans in instances where the land is being attached for the nonpayment of property taxes as provided under Title 33, Chapter 89, of this code. (7) The Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall provide in the contracts of purchase that a default shall not be deemed material or substantial where payments thereon are delinquent for a total of less than 6 months. The Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall likewise have the power by appropriate contract provision to allow prepayment of the installments with the attendant saving of interest. The Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority may likewise insert in the contract of purchase customary contractual provisions which in his judgment are advisable. (8) The Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority is authorized to waive any or all of the restraints upon alienation contained in this section and waive the penalty of reverter for non-performance of the conditions set forth in Title 21, section 7, subsections 2 and 7 and regulations or rules promulgated with respect to reverter, that he deems necessary for a purchaser to obtain a Veterans Administration Direct Loan (38 U.S.C. § 1811). Any such waiver shall be executed by the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority in the name of the Government of the Virgin Islands at the time of the granting of a direct loan to the purchaser by the Veterans Administration. (9) The Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall periodically inspect homestead plots sold or conveyed pursuant to this chapter to determine if the purchaser is in full compliance with the provisions of this chapter and the terms and conditions of the purchasers' contract or deed of conveyance. A record of such inspections shall be maintained and purchasers who are not in compliance shall be notified in writing by the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority. During the month of the fourth anniversary of the date of the formal documents of purchase by contract or deed on homestead plots allotted for the construction of a residence the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall inspect such homestead plot to determine if the purchaser has commenced construction. If he has not, the Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority shall notify the purchaser in writing that he has one year remaining to commence construction and further advise the purchaser of the consequences of failure to commence construction within 5 years after the date of the formal documents of purchase.