Colby v. Stevenson

1953 OK 200, 265 P.2d 477, 3 Oil & Gas Rep. 837, 1953 Okla. LEXIS 654
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided June 23, 1953·No. 35267·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Essential facts to state and present this controversy are that plaintiff Colby sold and conveyed 120 acres of land to E. E. Glaseo, reserving to himself an undivided one-third (40 acres) mineral interest (afterwards reduced by other conveyances to a one-sixth or 20 acre interest retained by Colby.) Thereafter the land, while owned by Glaseo, was sold for delinquent ad valorem taxes at resale to one Bradshaw who conveyed to one Bonney. E. E. Glaseo then filed suit against Bonney to cancel the tax deed alleging reasons why the tax sale and deed were invalid. That case, however, was never tried. It was settled by agreement between Glaseo and Bonney by which agreement Bonney took judgment quieting his tax title and then conveyed the land back to Glaseo with Bonney reserving to himself and others seven-twelfths of the mineral rights. This indicated a record re-vesting in E. E. Glaseo of title to the 120 acres of land and five-twelfths (SO acre) mineral rights or mineral interest.

Upon these facts plaintiff Colby contends the resulting situation is the same as if Glaseo had paid the delinquent taxes and prevented the tax resale; that the legal result of the agreement and transaction between Glaseo and Bonney was a payment of the taxes by Glaseo with mineral rights, in lieu of money, to Bonney who through his predecessor or grantor had discharged the tax claim by purchasing at the tax resale. And plaintiff Colby claims the right as against Glaseo to quiet his title to his one-sixth (20 acre) mineral interest, (leaving Glaseo the owner of the land and three-twelfths, or 30 acres, mineral interest.)

The rule applicable to this situation is settled in this state to the effect that when land is owned in fee by one person with an outstanding mineral interest in another, as in this case, and the land owner suffers the land to be sold at tax resale, and the land is acquired by a purchaser at or following ad valorem tax resale, and the land is then conveyed to him who owned the fee title at the time of tax resale, the outstanding mineral interest is not affected by the tax resale, but remains in the ownership of the person who owned it at and prior to the resale. That rule has been followed in many former decisions.

That rule was definitely established and applied in Burnett v. Cole, 193 Okl. 25, 140 P.2d 1012. That rule was specifically cited and followed and applied in Curry v. Frerichs, 194 Okl. 230, 149 P.2d 95; Warner v. Day, 197 Okl. 319, 170 P.2d 246, and in Edwards v. Gardner, 198 Okl. 217, 176 P.2d 1014.

In the Curry case, supra [194 Okl. 230, 149 P.2d 97], this court noted that the contrary rule was or might be applied in other jurisdictions. In the body of that opinion this court said:

“ * * * There is some authority that where the land is sold at the tax sale to the sovereign, and after the period of redemption has expired, the former owner may acquire a good title free from the claims of those owning interests prior to the tax sale (26 R.C.L. 413, notes 15 and 16) but we declined to follow that rule in Burnett v. Cole, above. * * * ”

*479 In the case at bar it is suggested that Glaseo owed no specific duty to Colby to pay these taxes because of the fact that the conveyance from Colby to Glaseo was specifically made “subject to taxes against the land” and because of the time when the taxes for which the land was sold became delinquent. The facts on that point are: that the land was sold for taxes for several years; the taxes for all those years but one were already delinquent when Colby sold the 120 acres to Glaseo and the taxes for the last of those years became delinquent after Colby sold and conveyed to Glaseo. We consider these facts immaterial and that contention without merit on account of- the definite application of this rule which this court has made in the above cited case. That same contention or a similar one was referred to in the body of the opinion in Warner v. Day, supra [197 Okl. 319, 170 P.2d 249]. In that case it was contended that Borum owed Day and Reynolds no duty to pay the taxes and therefore the rule should not apply. In that opinion this court said: “Superficially Borum’s contention would appear to have support in some of the authorities”, and the opinion then referred to some such authorities and then stated:

“ * * * Many courts, however, do not limit application of the rule to cases where the owner’s duty to pay taxes is also an obligation he owes another in privity with him, but also apply the doctrine where the duty is only that of a taxpayer to the state. This court is one of the latter. Thus in Burnett v. Cole, 193 Okl. 25, 140 P.2d 1012, 1013, it was said: ‘Defendant contends that he owed plaintiff no duty to pay the taxes on the mineral estate. But the right to acquire a tax title against another does not always rest on the question of whether a duty is owed to such other person. Defendant at least had a duty to pay his own taxes, and the question is whether he may profit by neglecting his own duty.’ ”

The controlling rule here applicable which protects mineral rights from tax resale when the land owner re-acquires title, in legal philosophy and in resulting protection of mineral right holders, is somewhat akin to the rule applied in four cases decided by this court last year where mineral right holders were protected from loss by foreclosure of mortgage liens when the landowner re-acquired title. See Equitable Royalty Corp. v. Hullet, 206 Okl. 233, 243 P.2d 986; Hanlon v. McClain, 206 Okl. 227, 242 P.2d 732; Bliss v. Wilcox Oil Co., 206 Okl. 232, 242 P.2d 739, and Triangle Royalty Corp. v. Graves, 206 Okl. 409, 242 P.2d 740.

In Warner v. Day, supra, protection was afforded both to a mortgage holder and to a mineral rights holder when the land owner re-acquired his land title after tax resale.

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Colby v. Stevenson, 1953 OK 200, 265 P.2d 477, 3 Oil & Gas Rep. 837, 1953 Okla. LEXIS 654 (Okla. 1953).

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