SUPREME COURT OF NEBRASKA
SHERLOCK v. GILLIS (March 28, 1922)
THE NORTHWESTERN REPORTER -- VOL. 187
SHERLOCK v. GILLIS. (No. 21743.)
(Supreme Court of Nebraska. March 28, 1922.)
(Syllabus by the Court.)
- Taxation ⇐805(2)�Suit attacking void tax deed not barred in five years.
- Taxation ⇐695�Where tax deed is void on face, owner may redeem from tax liens upon payment of delinquent taxes, interest, and penalties.
- Taxation ⇐76I �Tax deed issued on private tax sale void for failure to recite that land was not sold at public sale for want of bidders.
Where a treasurer's tax deed is void on its face, an action to redeem the land from the tax liens for which the land was sold is not barred within the five-year period fixed by the general revenue law. Rev. St. 1913, § 6558.
Where a tax deed which was issued upon a private tax sale is void for failure to recite that the land had been previously offered at public sale, and not sold for want of bidder�, the owner of the land may redeem it from the tax liens upon payment of the delinquent taxes, interest and penalties.
(Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.)
Tax deed issued on a private sale, not containing the statutory recital that the land bad been previously offered at a public sale by the county treasurer, and not sold for want of bidders, held void on its face.
Appeal from District Court, Morrill County; HOBART, Judge.
Action by John W. SHERLOCK against H. Wade GILLIS. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded.
James H. WOOLLEY, of Grand Island, and FAWCETT & MOCKETT and Francis V. ROBINSON, all of Lincoln, for appellant.
WILLIAMS, HURD & Neighbors, of Bridgeport, for appellee.
Heard before LETTON, DAY, and DEAN, JJ., and WESTOVER and SEARS, District Judges.
PER CURIAM. This Is an action to quiet In plaintiff title to a quarter section of land in Morrill county. Plaintiff claims title as grantee through a warranty deed executed by F. M. KNIGHT May 16, 1919. Knight's title rests on two tax deeds, one Issued by the treasurer of Cheyenne county March 24, 1909, and the other by the treasurer of Morrill county April 23, 1909. Morrill county having been carved out of Cheyenne county. Defendant pleaded that the tax deeds are void, that plaintiff has no interest In the land beyond his liens for taxes, Interest and penalties, and that defendant has been the owner since March 28, 1898, by virtue of a warranty deed from the patentee. Defendant prays for the cancellation of the tax deeds, for permission to redeem his land from the tax liens, and for a decree quieting In himself his title. In a reply plaintiff pleaded that defendant's attack on the tax deeds is barred by the five-year statute of limitations In the General Revenue Law. Rev. St. 1913, § 6558. The trial court found the issues in favor of plaintiff and granted him the equitable relief sought by him.
[3] On appeal defendant makes the point that the tax deeds were void on their face because they were Issued upon a private tax sale and did not contain the statutory recital that the land had been previously offered at a public sale by the county treasurer, and not sold for want of bidders. This point Is well taken.
"A tax deed purporting to have been issued on a private sale must contain a recital that the land had been previously offered for sale for such taxes at public sale, and not sold for want of bidders." LUDDEN v. HANSEN, 17 Neb. 354, 22 N. W. 766; cited and followed in unpublished per curiara opinion found in Complete Record 121 at page 255, filed on motion for rehearing in OPP v. SMITH, 102 Neb. 155, 166 N. W. 265, 168 N. W. 716.
In HOUSEL v. BOGGS, 17 Neb. 94, 22 N. W. 226, this court held:
"A tax deed must be valid on its face to entitle the party claiming under it to the benefit of the special limitation of the revenue law."
Sec, also, TOWLE v. HOLT, 14 Neb. 221, 15 N. W. 203; BENDEXEN v. FEN TON, 21 Neb. 184, 31 N. W. 685.
[1, 2] Since the tax deeds were void on their face, defendant was not required to assert their invalidity within the short period of five years. It follows that he Is entitled to redeem his land from the tax liens upon payment of delinquent taxes, interest and penalties. For that purpose, the Judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.
Reversed.
(SOURCE: The Northwestern Reporter: April 14 - June 2, 1922, vol. 187 (St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1922): 812-813. Google Books Search (accessed: December 29, 2008).)
NOTE: These were the listing of the judges for the "NEBRASKA -- Supreme Court" on page v; Andrew M. MORRISSEY, Chief Justice; Charles B. LETTON, William B. ROSE, James R. DEAN, Chester H. ALDRICH, George A. DAY,and Leonard A. FLANSBURG, Associate Justices.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: John W. SHERLOCK was born on March 26, 1891 in Nebraska. He died on July, 25 1976 in Ballard/Seattle of King County, Washington.1 His parents were Arthur SHERLOCK of Iowa and Mary F. BURRY of Swizterland.2 His siblings are Ralph R., Arthur Ernest, Rose P. (m: Joseph MORRILL), Frank W., George T., Lena M., and Charles J. SHERLOCK. 3
- SSDI. WWI Draft Registration Record, & Washington Death Index, 1940-1996 on Ancestry.com
- Angora Cemetery Burial Listing from the Knight Museum of Alliance (Sherlock & Burry)
- Federal Census Records: 1900-1930 (Iowa & Nebraska) on Ancestry.com
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