54 Kan. 709 | Kan. | 1895
Julia M. Goodman brought this action against the defendants to recover a quarter section of land in Jefferson county, and the rents and profits of the same from March 1, 1885, to December 8, 1887, alleged to be of the value of $2,000. The answer of the defendant was a general denial, and that they were in possession under a tax deed good upon its face, and which had been recorded more than five years before the commencement of the action. They, therefore, claimed that the action of the plaintiff was barred by the statute of limitations, At the trial, it was shown that the plaintiff’s title was derived through a conveyance made to her on November 5, 1887, by Willard R. Douglass, and that, in April, 1874, Douglass acquired his title to the land, and continued to own it until he conveyed it to plaintiff, unless it had been divested by the tax title under which defendants claim. Douglass was a minor until December 22, 1886, when he became 21 years of age. It was further shown, that the tax deed, under which the defendants claim title and held possession, was good upon its face, and was duly recorded in August, 1880, while the action was not commenced until december 8, 1887. The court below found that the defendants’ tax deed, while good upon its face, would be voidable if it had been attacked within five years of the time it was recorded, but evidence outside of the face of the deed tending to show invalidity was refused, and judgment given for defendants.
From the facts in the case, it is plain that the cause of action is barred, under § 141 of the tax law. It provides that a suit or proceeding against the tax purchaser for the recovery of land sold for taxes, except where the taxes have been paid or the land redeemed, must be commenced within five years from the time of recording the tax deed. The plaintiff attempts to parry the force of the objection by the claim that the statute did not run because of the infancy of her grantee. The plaintiff was not under the disability of infancy, and even her grantee, Douglass, brought no action, al