Gottlieb v. Babin

2 So. 2d 218, 197 La. 802, 1941 La. LEXIS 1085
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMarch 3, 1941
DocketNo. 35860.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2 So. 2d 218 (Gottlieb v. Babin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gottlieb v. Babin, 2 So. 2d 218, 197 La. 802, 1941 La. LEXIS 1085 (La. 1941).

Opinion

LAND, Justice.

This is an appeal from a decision of the judge of the Twenty-third Judicial District Court for the Parish of Ascension, dismissing a suit brought by plaintiffs against the defendants to set aside a tax sale of an undivided one-half interest in several tracts of land located in the Parish of Ascension. Many of the incidents which gave rise to the issues in the suit of Le Blanc et al. v. Babin et al., La.Sup., 2 So.2d 225, 1 are interwoven with those in the present suit.

(1) Saul J. Gottlieb, a resident of East Baton Rouge Parish, on April 13,' 1926, acquired the following property: “An undivided one-half interest in and to: The West half of Section 4, and the Southeast quarter Section 4, Township 9, South Range 2 East, 490.95 acres, that part of Southeast one-fourth of Section 5, Township 9, South-Range 2 East lying in- Ascension Parish,. 162.40 acres, that part of West half Section-33, Township 8, South Range 2 East in Ascension Parish, 179.25 acres, approximately; the Southeast quarter of Section 33, Township 8, South Range 2 East, 162.78' acres, in the Southeast, East of River, Parish of Ascension, containing 995.38 acres, more or less, according to the official plat of the survey of said land in the State Land Office.”

Jules Burton Le Blanc, Jesse Ernest Le Blanc and William Hardee Le Blanc own the other undivided one-half interest in the above described property.

(2) Saul J. Gottlieb died on July 28, 1928. His succession was regularly opened in the parish of his domicile, East Baton Rouge, and a judgment was rendered on November 28,1928, recognizing the plaintiffs, Lewis Gottlieb and Mrs. Rosalie G. Moyse, his brother and sister, as his sole heirs, and placing them in possession of all of his estate, including specifically the property *807 above described. A certified copy of this judgment was recorded in the office of the Clerk of Court of the Parish of Ascension on January 10, 1929, in Conveyance Book 69, page 210. On the 28th day of October, 1933, the defendants, Benton P. Babin, Andrew J. Babin and Wickliffe M. Babin, claim to have acquired the said property at a tax sale made in the matter of the “State of Louisiana against Delinquent Tax Debtors” for taxes due to the State and the Parish of Ascension for the year, 1932, assessed according to the assessment roll for the Parish of Ascension for the year, 1932, to “Heirs of Saul J. Gotlieb, Louis Gotlieb & Mrs. Rosalie G. Moise, Baton Rouge, La.” Tr. p. 197. And, according to the tax deed and the advertisement, assessed in the name of “Heirs of Saul J. Gotlieb.” Tr. pp. 191 and 197.

(3) Plaintiffs attack said assessment as illegal, null and void because they had been placed in the possession of said property under a judgment regularly rendered by a competent court, on November 28, 1928, which had been filed and recorded legally and properly in the Conveyance Records of the Parish of Ascension on January 10, 1929, prior to the tax sale of said property to defendants on October 28, 1933, and because the names of plaintiffs, and even of their deceased brother, were improperly given on said assessment rolls.

Plaintiffs contend that the only legal assessment that could be made was in the names of plaintiffs, who were record owners of the property on January 10, 1929, and at all times thereafter, and that the assessor of the Parish of Ascension was required to assess the property to them in their proper names.

In our opinion, the contention of plaintiffs is correct. When the plaintiffs were placed in possession of this property by the judgment of the court, the succession of Saul J. Gottlieb was closed. Plaintiffs became the record owners of the property individually in their names of Lewis Gottlieb and Mrs. Rosalie G. Moyse. The assessment made to them as “Heirs of Saul J. Gotlieb” was an assessment to the Estate of Saul J. Gottlieb, which no longer existed.

As said in the case of Hayes v. Viator, Sheriff, 33 La.Ann. 1162, at page 1165: “A proper assessment is essential to the validity of a tax sale. (Sutton v. Calhoun) 14 [La.]Ann. 209; (Woolfolk v. Fonbene) 15 [La].Ann. 15; (Marin v. Sheriff & City of New Orleans) 30 [La.]Ann. 293.”

In the case of Norres v. Hays, 44 La.Ann. 907, 11 So. 462, the property which it was sought to recover had been sold at a tax sale under an assessment in the name of “Estate of William Hays.” In setting aside the sale the court used the following language at page 912 of 44 La.Ann., at page 463 of 11 So.: “The property was sold for taxes under Act 98 of 1886. It was assessed to the estate of William Hays. He resided and died in the parish of St. Mary. His heirs also resided there. The property was owned in indivisión by .several. There was, therefore, no valid assessment of the property upon which a sale could be made. It is elementary that the assessment is the basis of a judgment for the sale. Succession of Mercier, 42 La.Ann. [1135] 1139, *809 8 So. 732 [11 L.R.A. 817]; Hayes, Administrator v. Viator, Sheriff, 33 La.Ann. 1162.”

The property must be assessed in the name of the record owner. § 10 of Act No. 170 of 1898. This was not done in the present case.

(4) Plaintiffs also contend that, in addition, the assessment was illegal, null and void in that said property was erroneously and improperly described as follows:

No. of Acres

497.69 245.47 Undiv. % Int. In W.% of Sec. 4 & S.E. %, Sec. 4-9-2.

81.20 Undiv. y2 Int. In S.E. yá, Sec. 5-9-2. '

89.63 Undiv. Int. In W.y2, Sec. 33-8-2.

81.39 Acs. Und. y2 Int. In S. E.%, Sec. 33-8-2.

Lewis Gottlieb and Mrs. Rosalie G. Moyse were not recognized as the owners of any specific number of acres. Saul J. Gottlieb did not acquire any specific number of acres. Both he and they acquired an undivided one-half interest in and to a number of tracts of land.

The property was not so assessed. Instead, a specific number of acres was given, and, in addition, in referring to the undivided one-half interest in the various tracts, a specific number of acres was given instead of an assessment of an undivided interest.

Let us see now what the Supreme Court has had to say about the assessment of an undivided interest in real estate.

In the case of Hayes v. Viator, Sheriff, 33 La.Ann. 1162, at pages 1164 and 1165, in annulling the sale, the court uses the following language: “It is unnecessary to consider all the alleged nullities set up in the plaintiff’s petition; we will notice those .only that have mainly influenced us in the conclusion we have reached.

“We have given the description of the land as found in the deed, in order to show the discrepancy between the true description of it and that given in the tax proceedings relating to the same property, which latter description we transcribe literally from the record, as follows:

“‘Hays David 800 b’ d’ N. Hollingsworth. S. Hayes W. Avery. Hayes M. 800 acres, b’ d’ N. Hollingsworth S. Hayes W. Avery.’

“And under the heading of non-residents :

“‘Hayes Wm. 800 acres b’ d. N. Hollingsworth S. Mass.’

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Grieshaber v. Cannon
346 So. 2d 166 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1977)
Grieshaber v. Cannon
339 So. 2d 445 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1976)
Verret v. Norwood
311 So. 2d 86 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1975)
Staring v. Grace
97 So. 2d 669 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1957)
Gull Hunting & Fishing Club, Inc. v. Kirn
92 So. 2d 83 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1957)
Weaver Bros. Realty Corporation v. Vines
23 So. 2d 826 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1945)
Alba v. Holstead
23 So. 2d 100 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1945)
Le Blanc v. Babin
2 So. 2d 225 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1941)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 So. 2d 218, 197 La. 802, 1941 La. LEXIS 1085, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gottlieb-v-babin-la-1941.