Section 44-14-120. Enforcement of rights; petition; order

   Whenever any person has conveyed real property in this state by a deed to a trustee to secure the payment of a note or notes, bonds, or other debt owing to one or more persons, the rights of the trustee named in the deed or his successor in estate, as well as the rights of the holders or owners of the notes or other debts in the real property, may be enforced in the following manner:

   (1) The trustee named in the deed or his successor in estate entitled to enforce the deed may, upon the request of the holders or owners of at least two-thirds of the indebtedness thereby secured but not otherwise, petition the superior court of the county of the residence of the maker of the deed or, if there is more than one maker, the superior court of the county of the residence of either or, if the maker or makers are nonresidents of the state, the superior court of the county wherein the land or any part thereof conveyed by the deed is located or the city court, if any, in the county having jurisdiction of the amount claimed in the petition. The petition shall contain a statement of the case, the amounts demanded, and a description of the property covered by the deed to secure such demands; and

   (2) Upon the petition being filed, the court shall grant an order directing the sums demanded in the petition, together with interest and costs, to be paid into the court on or before the first day of the next term immediately succeeding the one at which the order is granted, which order shall be published once a week for four weeks in some newspaper generally circulated in the county or shall be served on the maker of the deed or his special agent or attorney at least 20 days prior to the time at which the money is directed to be paid into the court.

Ga. L. 1896, p. 76, § 1; Civil Code 1910, § 311; Code 1933, § 67-1201; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 44.