Mahoney v. Barton

1934 OK 329, 35 P.2d 443, 168 Okla. 586, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 48
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 29, 1934
Docket22054
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1934 OK 329 (Mahoney v. Barton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mahoney v. Barton, 1934 OK 329, 35 P.2d 443, 168 Okla. 586, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 48 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

RILEY, C. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment and decree canceling- of record a resale tax deed purporting to have been issued under the provisions of sections 9744, 9745, and 9740, C. O. S. 1921, as amended by chapter 158, S. L. 1923.

The lot or parcel of land involved is: Lot 29, block 14, Lawrence Place addition to Oklahoma City, Okla., as shown on the recorded plat thereof.

The resale deed was issued to one John T. Phelan on June 19th, based upon a sale begun and held on the third Monday in April, 1924, and was placed of record October 6, 1924. The lot was subsequently conveyed "from Phelan to plaintiff in error, Annie G. Mahoney.

This action was commenced on March 11, 1930, by W. R. Barton, the record owner of said lot prior to the resale.

In his petition plaintiff alleged the resale deed was void: (1) because it is not on the form prescribed by the State Examiner and Inspector; (2) because the property was located outside the corporate limits of any city or town, and at the time of the resale there were unpaid ad valorem taxes due on said property far in excess of the amount bid and paid by the purchaser, John T. Phelan; and (3) because county treasurer failed to make return of said resale and report thereof as required by law.

Defendant, Mahoney, demurred to the petition, asserting that, said petition did not state facts sufficient to constitute a -cause of action, and that if plaintiff ever had any cause of action, the petition shows the same to be barred by the statute of limitations.

The demurrer was overruled and defendant- answered by general denial, and alleged further that defendant and her grantor had been in actual peaceable possession for more than five years under said resale tax deed, which was recorded October 6, 1924, and that plaintiff’s alleged cause of action was barred by the statute of limitations; that plaintiff was guilty of laches in that he knowingly permitted defendant and his immediate grantor to remain in possession for more than five years and pay all taxes on the property during that time, and had failed to notify defendant or her grantor that he intended to claim said property, and that plaintiff had failed to tender into court or offered to pay plaintiff any tax<.-s, interest, or penalty required by law as a prerequisite to maintain an action such as this.

Plaintiff replied by general denial.

At the trial it was stipulated that the form of deed prescribed by the State Examiner and Inspector was the same as the form used by the county treasurer to Phelan, except that in the deed by the county treasurer to Phelan, in the clause immediately following the first description, which in the form prescribed by State Examiner and Inspector reads: “He being the highest and best bidder therefor, and the said sum being the highest amount bid therefor, and the same being equal to or greater than the amount of taxes, penalties, interests, and costs due on each tract of land above described, ***** *587 the words, “and the sum being the highest amount bid therefor, and the same being equal to or greater than the amount of taxes, penalties, interest, and costs due on each tract of land above described, and,’’ were stricken out by drawing a line through same.

It was also stipulated that the property involved was at all times sinee the resale deed was issued unimproved, and that no improvements had been constructed by either party, and that the property involved was at the time of resale outside the city limits of Oklahoma City, and was not within the corporate limits of any city or town.

The records in the county treasurer’s office showed that at the time of the resale, April 21, 1924, there were unpaid ad valorem (axes, penalties, and costs, amounting to $16.-81, same being for taxes for Hie years 1919 to 1922, inclusive. The amount for which the lot was sold to Phelan was $10.50.

The trial court found and held:

“* * * That the allegations in plaintiff’s petition are true, and that the tax deed issued by the county treasurer of Oklahoma county to John T. Phelan, the grantor of Annie G. Mahoney, was and is void; that the property was not within the corporate limits of any town or city, and that the treasurer attempted to sell said property at the resale of June, 19'24, for less than the total amount of the taxes, interest, costs, and penalty against said property; that said sale and the deed issued pursuant thereto were and are void and should be canceled.”

Judgment and decree were entered accordingly, upon condition, however, that plaintiff pay to defendant all taxes paid by her and her grantors sinee 1924, and the amount paid on account of resale deed.

The first question presented is, whether the resale tax deed involved is void upon its face, or whether the fact that the lot involved was not within the corporate limits of any city or town, and the amount bid by the purchaser, John T. Phelan, was less than the total amount of taxes, penalties, interest, and costs then due against the property, would deprive the county treasurer of power to issue the deed to the extent that the statute of limitations did not run against an action to cancel the deed. We consider the latter part of the query stated.

This action was not commenced within the period of twelve months after the deed was recorded as provided by section 9746, C. O. S. 1921, as amended by section 6, ch. 158, S. L. 1923. Neither was it commenced within the two-year period provided in subdivision 3, see. 183, C. O. S. 1921. In fact, evidence aside from the deed itself was adduced to prove the lot was not within the limits of any city or town. The stipulation of the parties supplied this fact. Section 9745, G. O. S. 1921, as amended by section 5', eh. 158, S. L. 1923, provides that real estate sold at such resale shall be sold to the highest bidder for cash, provided that such bidder offers or bids an amount equal to or greater than the amount of taxes, penalties, interest, and costs due on each tract of land, “provided, further, that any such bid for vacant lots located in any city or town may be accepted as the highest and best bid whether said amount is equal to or greater than the amount of taxes, penalties, interests, and costs due thereon.” It does not appear that the State Examiner and Inspector had prescribed separate forms of deeds for real estate which could have been sold for less than the amount of taxes, interest, penalties, and costs due thereon. Had the lot involved been located within the limits of a city or town, it may have been entirely proper for the county treasurer to use the general form prepared by the State Examiner and Inspector with the clause above mentioned stricken out, but the form of the deed in the instant case does not fit the true facts. There was a defect and omission contained in the instrument..

The question of the authority of the county treasurer to issue any deed whatever, under the state of facts, raises a decisive question. Pimm v. Waldron et al., 118 Okla. 5, 244 P. 37, is a case involving substantially the same question, although the statute of limitations was not involved. There the lots in question were located within the corporate limits of Oklahoma City, but they were not vacant lots. They were improved by having seven four-room houses erected thereon. The amount of taxes due was $1,075.32. The treasurer at the resale accepted a bid of $2.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 329, 35 P.2d 443, 168 Okla. 586, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mahoney-v-barton-okla-1934.