1102                            Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 349

ence of a mortgage or deed of trust or of easements, rights-of-way
or similar interests for public utility purposes shall not be deemed
to qualify the estate of an applicant; but no patent issued hereunder
shall in any manner affect or impair such mortgage, deed of trust,
easement, right-of-way, or other interest.

(d)    Death and substitution of applicant.—Upon the death of an
applicant during any proceeding or upon assignment of his rights in
the application, warrant, or certificate of survey or in the land em-
braced within the description contained in the application, the
assignee, heir or devisee of such applicant may be substituted for the
applicant at any stage in the proceeding. Request for substitution
shall be made in writing, shall state the manner in which the person
desiring substitution succeeded to the rights of the original appli-
cant, shall contain the original or certified copies of all documents
by which such succession of interest was effected, and shall contain
an affidavit of the person desiring substitution of the truth and com-
pleteness of the request and of the original application. Upon the
filing of such request, the person named therein shall be substituted
as the applicant for all purposes in the proceeding.

(e)    Attorney.—Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d),
any papers filed in any proceeding by an applicant may be filed by
his attorney; and notice to an applicant may at all times be given
to an attorney who has filed written appearance in the proceeding
on behalf of the applicant.

13-106. Filing and priority of application; contents of warrant;
notice of issuance of warrant.

(a)    Filing and priority.—After receipt of an application in
proper form and payment of any fees and deposit required by law, it
shall be filed by the Commissioner. All applications shall be con-
sidered for filing in the order received by the Commissioner; and
after the filing of any application, no warrant for the survey or
resurvey of any land described therein shall be issued upon any
subsequent application, unless the first application is withdrawn
or is not perfected within the time prescribed by this title.

(b)    Contents of warrant.—When an application has been filed,
the Commissioner shall issue his warrant to the surveyor named in
the application. The warrant shall recite the name and address of
the applicant, the date on which the application was filed, the nature
of the request made in the application, and a description of the alleged
vacant land and/or the land to be resurveyed as described in the
application. The warrant shall authorize and direct the surveyor to lay
out and carefully survey the vacant land and/or to resurvey the
land described therein. It shall enjoin the surveyor to prepare an
accurate plat and description by metes and bounds of the alleged
vacant land and/or land to be resurveyed; to run no lines within
the lines of any former patent; to correct any errors in the original
survey of any land to be resurveyed; to compute the area of any
vacant land comprehended within the description and plat so pre-
pared; and to return his certificate thereon to the Commissioner
within six months from the date of the warrant. The warrant
shall be signed by the Commissioner and his seal affixed thereto.

(c)    Notice.—At the time that the warrant is issued, the Com-
missioner shall give notice thereof by registered or certified mail,