[§651-70]  Service of petition and notice of hearing; effects of failure to serve; appointment of appraisers.  [(a)]  Within ninety days from the date of filing the petition, a copy thereof, with the notice of the time and place of hearing, shall be served personally by any person over the age of majority and by certified mail, return receipt requested, upon the claimant or the claimant's attorneys at least ten days before the hearing, then upon affidavit or refusal of such services or inability to locate upon diligent search and inquiry, by publication once in a newspaper of general circulation in the State at least twenty days before the hearing.  If the notice is not served, the lien of the execution shall cease at the expiration of the ninety-day period, and no execution based upon the same judgment shall thereafter be levied upon the real or personal property.

     [(b)]  At the hearing the court may, upon proof of the service of a copy of the petition and notice, and of the facts stated in the petition, appoint one to three disinterested residents of the county in which the property is situated to appraise the value of the real or personal property. [L 1976, c 136, pt of §3; gen ch 1985]