115 Ky. 632 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1903
Opinion of the court by
'Affirming.
On the 2d.day of August, 1902, the appellant, C. E. Bond, •became the purchaser of a 1st, find storehouse situated thereon, in the city of Lexington, at a decretal sale made by the master commissioner of the Fayette circuit court, at the price of $22,420, and executed bonds therefor to the commissioner. The report of sale was filed on the' 15th day of September, 1902, and was confirmed, and possession awarded to appellant, on the 13th day of October thereafter. In the judgment of confirmation, the question of appellant’s liability for taxes against the property, assessed as of the 15th day of September, 1902, was reserved, but it was subsequently adjudged by the court that appellant, as purchaser, took the vested equitable title to the property on the day of sale, and was liable for all taxes that might be assessed on the property as of September 15, 1902. To this ruling of the court the purchaser excepted, and has appealed to this court.
Sections 4023 and 4052 of the Kentucky Statutes of 1899, which are substantial re-enactments of similar provisions contained both in the General and Revised Statutes on the same subject, read as follows:
“Sec. 4023. The holder of the legal title and the holder of the equitable title, and the claimant and bailee in possession- of the property on the 15th of Sep*635 tember of the year the assessment is made, shall be liable for taxes thereon; and as between themselves, it shall be the duty of the holder of the equitable title to list the property and pay the taxes thereon, whether the property be in possession or not at the time of the payment.”
“Sec. 4052. All taxable estate shall be assessed and valued as of the fifteenth of September in the year listed, and the person owning or possessing the same on the day shall list it with the assessor and remain bound for the tax, notwithstanding he may have sold or parted with the same.”
The sole question to be decided is whether appellant on the 2d of August, 1902, acquired the equitable title to the property by reason of the acceptance of his bid and bonds for purchase money, by the commissioner making the sale. If so, he became liable for all taxes which accrued against the property after that date. This is not a new question in this State. In Vance’s Adm’r v. Foster & Ray, 72 Ky., 389, it was decided that an accepted bidder at a judicial sale could be compelled to comply with the terms of his purchase, notwithstanding the accidental destruction of the property by fire before the sale was confirmed or actual possession changed, upon the theory that he held the equitable title to the property. In that case, in discussing the same contention made for appellant, the court- said: “If it be true, as contended for the appellee, that their bids for the several parcels of machinery, and their acceptance by the commissioner, were not effectual for any purpose until approved by the court, and could have only operated to transfer the title as from the time of confirmation, we readily concede that the loss sustained in this case should fall on the estate of Vance, and not on the appellees. But in our opinion, both the rights which the appellees acquired and the responsibilities they incurred, by becoming ac
Judgment affirmed.