Delmond v. Board of Investors Corp.

74 N.E.2d 376, 48 Ohio Law. Abs. 293, 35 Ohio Op. 419, 1947 Ohio App. LEXIS 835
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 7, 1947
DocketNo. 20677
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 74 N.E.2d 376 (Delmond v. Board of Investors Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Delmond v. Board of Investors Corp., 74 N.E.2d 376, 48 Ohio Law. Abs. 293, 35 Ohio Op. 419, 1947 Ohio App. LEXIS 835 (Ohio Ct. App. 1947).

Opinion

OPINION

By HURD, PJ.:

This is an appeal on questions of law and fact by the defendant-appellant, The City of South Euclid," from a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga Couhty dismissing the answer and cross-petition of said defendant-appellant, and quieting title of the plaintiff against all claims of the defendants including the special assessment liens of said City.

The action was commenced July 25,1946 and was instituted by the plaintiff to quiet title as to any and all claims of the defendants upon certain real estate purchased by the plaintiff [295]*295from the Auditor of Cuyahoga County at a forfeited land sale.

By an amended petition the defendant, City of South Euclid was made a new party defendant and by its answer which is also in the nature of a cross-petition, asserted the lien of special assessments on said property, claiming said sale to be void.

The defendant, The Board of Investors Company, the former property owner whose lands were sold at the forfeited land sale was in default of answer and appearances and at no time in these proceedings has made any claim in respect of any interest in the forfeited lands.

The primary question to be decided is whether or not the said sale conducted by the County Auditor was valid.

The Common Pleas Court upon hearing found in substance by journal entry filed January 20,1947, that all the proceedings resulting in the forfeiture of said land to the State of Ohio on June 13, 1945, were in all respects in compliance with the statutes and particularly in compliance with the provisions of §§5705, 5718, 5718-1, 5718-l(a), 5718-l(b), 5718-l(c), 5718-4 GC, and found further that the provisions of the General Code relating to the sale of forfeited lands are directory and not mandatory and that all of the provisions of the General Code relating to the sale of forfeited lands had been substantially complied with by the Auditor, whereby the plaintiff had become vested of a good and indefeasible title in fee simple in and to the lands described and that the defendant, The Board of Investors Company and the defendant, City of South Euclid, by virtue of said forfeiture sale aforesaid had become divested of any interest in said lands and that the defendant, City of South Euclid, has no valid claim against the land for past due taxes and assessments or for future assessments, reassessed against said lands on January 16,1940 and that the assessments for street lighting are still a valid claim charged against said lots from and after July 27, 1945.

During the course of the argument it was stated in open court by counsel that at the sale described in the pleadings the Auditor sold 3050 parcels of land covered by judgment of forfeiture previously made in the Common Pleas Court in Cuyahoga County. The total returns from said sales amounted to $1,391,490.00 and costs of advertising and other expenses amounted to $9148.00. The record does not show the number of years of delinquency, except that all parties had agreed that the delinquencies had existed for many years.

The case was tried in this court upon stipulations of fact of which the following are particularly pertinent:

[296]*296“4. That the defendant, the City of South Euclid, prior to the year 1940, levied against the property described in the' petition special assessments to finance the cost of street, sewer district and other improvements, and bonds were issued in anticipation of the collection of said assessments; that said special assessments were made payable in annual installments and were certified to the County Auditor for collection on the tax duplicate as other taxes are collected; that certain installments of said assessments were not paid; that on January 16, 1940, under and pursuant to §§2293-5(p) to 2293-5(u) GC, inclusive, the City of South Euclid reassessed the unpaid portion of all the special assessments theretofore levied by it against the property described in the petition; that said reassessments were made payable in twenty-eight annual installments and were certified to the County Auditor for collection on the tax duplicate as other taxes are collected, beginning with the year, 1939 tax duplicate.”

“5. That the property described in the petition which comprises various sublots, became delinquent because of the non-payment of taxes, assessments and reassessments which had been levied against it, and was forfeited to the State of Ohio on June 13, 1945 after proceedings were had by the Common Pleas Court under §§5705, 5718-1, 5718-1 (a), 5718-1 (b), and 5718-1 (c), 5718-4 GC, and also after said property had been omitted from foreclosure proceedings by the County Board of Revision.”

“6. That after the forfeiture of the property described in the petition on June 13, 1945, the County Auditor caused to be published in English in “The South Euclid Citizen” and the “Berea News” two newspapers of general circulation in the county, on the 15th and 22nd days of June, 1945, a notice that said described property and other forfeited lands would be sold at public auction if the due and unpaid taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and costs charged against said forfeited property were not paid before the date fixed in said notice for the tax sale of said forfeited property; that a copy of said notice of sale is hereto attached, marked “Exhibit A” and made a part hereof;”

“7. That the taxes, assessments, penalties, interests and costs charged against the property described in the petition not having been paid, the said described property was offered for sale to the public at public auction by the County Auditor, pursuant to the aforesaid tax sale notice * * * and was sold to the plaintiff on the 27th day of July, 1945, by the County Auditor; that the plaintiff paid to the County Auditor the [297]*297full amount of his bid, in cash, plus $1.25 for each parcel purchased and received from said county auditor the required statutory certificates for each parcel so purchased; that deeds for the sublots comprising the said described property were subsequently issued and delivered to the plaintiff by the county auditor; and that said deeds were recorded on September 6, 1945 in the Deed Records of Cuyahoga County, Ohio;”

“8. That the County Auditor did not between the first Monday of November, 1945 and the first day of January, 1946, for the purpose of public sale, make any list of the forfeited lands and lots in the county which included the forfeited property described in the petition, nor did he make any list whatsoever of the forfeited lots and lands of the county between said dates for the purpose of public sale; ”

“9. That the county auditor, having sold the property described in the petition at the tax sale as aforesaid, did not subsequent to January 15, 1946, cause notice of the tax sale of said property to be advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks prior to the first day of July, 1946, in two newspapers as provided in §5704 GC, nor did he sell the said described property to the plaintiff or other persons subsequent to January 15, 1946.”

The parties are in accord'on the proposition that the forfeiture of the lands described in plaintiff’s petition was, in all respects, valid by reason of proper proceedings in common pleas court, all parties agreeing that there was strict compliance with all statutes relating to forfeiture'.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
74 N.E.2d 376, 48 Ohio Law. Abs. 293, 35 Ohio Op. 419, 1947 Ohio App. LEXIS 835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delmond-v-board-of-investors-corp-ohioctapp-1947.