192 S.E. 125 | W. Va. | 1937
This is an original proceeding in mandamus.
An improved tract of three acres in Cabell County owned by Armstrong Electric Manufacturing Corporation was delinquent for 1930 taxes. The tract was conveyed by its owner to Armstrong Appliance Corporation in February, 1931, the grantee covenanting to pay the 1930 taxes. This was not done; and in December, 1931, *51 the tract was sold for the delinquency by the sheriff, and was purchased by the state. The taxes for 1931 were also not paid and the tract was purportedly sold to the state at the tax sale therefor in December, 1932. The Appliance Corporation was adjudicated a bankrupt in 1934 by the United States District Court for Delaware, and on February 14, 1935, that court, by order, directed "the tax authorities of the State of West Virginia" to appear before the referee in bankruptcy at Wilmington, Delaware, on March 4, 1935. This order was directed to be published and was served personally on the Auditor of West Virginia and the sheriff of Cabell County. On March 14, 1935, the court ordered the tract to be sold free of liens, including taxes, and adjudicated that the liens should be transferred to the proceeds of the sale. The tract was sold April 3, 1935; the sale was confirmed and a deed executed by the trustee in bankruptcy on April 5, 1935, to the purchaser, who, on the same day, conveyed it to the petitioner, Armstrong Products Corporation.
The petition alleges that the sheriff "after collaborating with the State Auditor" filed and on April 30, 1935, received payment of a claim in the bankruptcy proceedings "for direct property taxes assessed and charged against said land and improvements for the years 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934 and 1935," which the sheriff represented were all the taxes due on the tract. The taxes for 1936 have been paid. The respondent, the assessor of Cabell County, now refuses to extend the taxes against the tract on the land books for 1937 because the tract has never been redeemed from the sale to the state in 1931 for the delinquency of 1930. Relator prays for a writ requiring the extension.
Relator relies largely on the established rule that under some circumstances, a bankruptcy court may sell a bankrupt's land free from the lien of a state for taxes. See Van Huffel v.Harkelrode,
We need not consider what would have been the effect on the state had the treasurer or the auditor or the commissioner of school lands furnished the bankruptcy court with an erroneous statement of the amount necessary to redeem the tract; the error was that of the sheriff, who, despite alleged collaboration with the auditor, had no authority to represent the state in the matter of tax redemptions. "The state is not bound by the unauthorized or illegal acts of its officers, nor can its title to a tract of land be transferred, divested or affected in any manner or to any extent, by such unauthorized or illegal acts; and all persons who deal with such officers do so at their peril, in all matters wherein such officers exceed their legitimate powers." Totten v. Nighbert, supra. Accord:State v. Chilton,
Relator contends alternatively that if the state became the owner of the tract in 1931 and such ownership was unaffected by the bankruptcy sale, then relator has acquired *54 the state's title under the Constitution, Article XIII, section 3, by virtue of actual continuous and colorable possession or five years and the payment of all taxes for that period. The possession for the greater part of the period was held by the Appliance Corporation, or a court official for it. The covenant in its deed of purchase bound it to pay the taxes for 1930. Its failure to perform this covenant permitted the state to acquire the title. The Constitution, by its own terms, does not recognize the possession of a claimant to land "for whose default the same may have been forfeited or returned delinquent."
The writ is refused and the petition dismissed.
Writ refused; petition dismissed.