Federated Income Properties, Inc. v. State

187 P.2d 460, 82 Cal. App. 2d 893, 1947 Cal. App. LEXIS 1291
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 16, 1947
DocketCiv. No. 16106
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 187 P.2d 460 (Federated Income Properties, Inc. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federated Income Properties, Inc. v. State, 187 P.2d 460, 82 Cal. App. 2d 893, 1947 Cal. App. LEXIS 1291 (Cal. Ct. App. 1947).

Opinion

WILSON, J.

In this action to quiet title to real property a dismissal was filed as to all defendants except city of South [896]*896Pasadena. Judgment was rendered in favor of defendant city and plaintiff has appealed from the judgment.

The property was sold to the State of California for nonpayment of taxes. More than five years thereafter tax deeds to the state were issued and recorded. After acquiring title the state sold the property to the city of South Pasadena pursuant to an agreement authorized by chapter 8 of part 6 of division I of the Revenue and Taxation Code for the sum of $1.00 per parcel for the stated purpose of restoring the property to the tax rolls. At the time of the sale by the state to the city, the property was in an assessment district in which street bonds had been issued, more than 57 per cent of which were delinquent on June 30, 1940—a distressed assessment district as defined in section 133 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

Respondent contends that since the sale to the city of South Pasadena was on September 15, 1943, and this action was commenced on May 28, 1945, the action is barred by section 3809 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, which reads as follows : “A proceeding based on alleged invalidity or irregularity of any agreement or deed executed under this article can only be commenced within one year after the execution of the instrument.”

Appellant maintains that the deed to the city of South Pasadena is void and that section 3809 is therefore inapplicable for the reasons: (a) That the consideration of $1.00 per parcel paid by the city was so grossly inadequate that the sale amounted to a gift of public funds to a municipal corporation in violation of sections 22 and 31 of article IV of the Constitution, and (b) that the property was in a distressed assessment district and therefore not subject to sale pursuant to said chapter 8. If the sale was void, no title was conveyed and the right to contest its effect is not cut off by the statute of limitations, hence our first inquiry will be into the validity of the sale.

1. Is the sale void by reason of sections 22 and 31 of article IV of the Constitution? The provisions contained in chapter 8 are derived from former section 3897d of the Political- Code, which was discussed in South San Joaquin Irr. Dist. v. Neumiller, 2 Cal.2d 485, 489 [42 P.2d 64]. The court held that in the absence of constitutional limitations the Legislature is free to dispose of the state’s tax-deeded lands in any way deemed by it to be in the public interest and that a person [897]*897having the privilege of redemption has not a vested or a substantial right to have such lands disposed of by the state in any particular way when his right of redemption is not affected.

Upon the execution of the deed to the state, the property owner forfeited all right in the property except the privilege of redeeming it before the state disposed of it. Appellant’s right of redemption was therefore not affected by the sale to the city. The manner of sale was not in violation of constitutional provisions. There is a distinction between the absolute right to redeem within the fixed period of five years after the date of sale to the state and the conditional right to redeem after the property has been deeded to the state, if the state does not sell the property. The deed to the state upon the expiration of five years conveys the absolute title to the property. (Mercury Herald Co. v. Moore, 22 Cal.2d 269, 273 [138 P.2d 673, 147 A.L.R 1111].)

The Legislature has full control over the sale of property belonging to the state. It may direct it to be sold and may regulate or change at any time the method of its disposition. (Buck v. Canty, 162 Cal. 226, 233 [121 P. 924].) The state may sell tax-deeded property to a municipality for such price and upon such terms as may be agreed upon and thereby terminate the right of redemption. (Ch. 8, supra.)

Appellant having lost all its right and interest in the property, except the privilege of redeeming, cannot object to the manner in which the property was conveyed to respondent. (Helvey v. Bank of America, 43 Cal.App.2d 532 [111 P.2d 390].)

It is to the interest and benefit of the state that tax-deeded property should be resold into private ownership. (Fox v. Wright, 152 Cal. 59, 62 [91 P. 1005].) Thereby, it is returned to the tax rolls and taxes thereon are paid to all the taxing agencies in which the property is located; the state is relieved of the management of it; it is likely to be improved, thus adding to its tax value and to the amount of taxes to be paid thereon. It is advantageous to merge and unify the tax titles of the various taxing agencies to the end that a private purchaser will acquire all outstanding tax titles through one sale and one deed. (South San Joaquin Irr. Dist. v. Neumiller, supra, p. 490.)

The foregoing elements enter importantly into the [898]*898consideration received by the state for the transfer of its interest in the property to respondent city and are sufficiently adequate to negate the contention that the sale amounted to a gift in violation of the constitution. Before a sale is made by the state to a city, the price shall be agreed upon between the board of supervisors of the county, the state controller and the governing body of the city in which the property is located. (Rev. & Tax. Code, §§ 3775, 3791.) Such an agreement was entered into before the sale involved in this action was made to the city of South Pasadena. The state having determined that other considerations than the cash received furnished an adequate return for the state’s tax title and no reason appearing for questioning the wisdom of such decision, the court will not set aside the sale.

For the reasons above stated, the court did not err in rejecting appellant’s offer to prove that the property was worth $100 per parcel at the time of the sale to respondent city.

In connection with its argument appellant complains that the county of Los Angeles did not receive its fair share of the consideration for the sale. The contention is made that the county should have been reimbursed for a portion of the taxes due and unpaid to it and that the city of South Pasadena obtained a contract that was unfair and detrimental to the county. The county of Los Angeles was a party to the contract (Rev. & Tax. Code, § 3775, 3791) and it is presumed that its officials obtained terms and conditions that were equitable to its interests. The county obtained the benefit of having the property returned to the tax rolls thereby increasing the amount of taxes it would receive after the sale. Moreover, since that question does not affect the validity of the sale appellant cannot raise it in its action to quiet title as it might possibly do if it were suing as a taxpayer to recover funds belonging to the county which the public officials have not sought to recover.

2. Was the sale forbidden by law because the property was in a distressed assessment district?

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Bluebook (online)
187 P.2d 460, 82 Cal. App. 2d 893, 1947 Cal. App. LEXIS 1291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federated-income-properties-inc-v-state-calctapp-1947.