130 P. 737 | Or. | 1913
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a decree dismissing his suit to determine an adverse title to vacant and unimproved real property in Klamath County, Oregon. The facts are that on July 2, 1898, Roscoe R. Guilliams obtained a warranty deed for the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 11, in township 39 south, of range 11 east, of Willamette Meridian. This land having been assessed to the owner, who failed to pay the tax imposed, the sheriff of that county published a notice to the effect that by virtue of a warrant attached to certain delinquent tax rolls of that county, commanding him to levy upon the goods and chattels of the tax
“That on the 19th day of April, 1906, a writ of attachment was duly issued out of said circuit court in this cause, directed to the said sheriff and commanding him to attach and safely keep all property of the said defendant; Ross Guilliams, within Klamath County, not exempt from execution, or so much thereof as might be necessary to satisfy the plaintiff’s demand, viz., the sum of $1,277 and $150 attorney’s fees and costs and disbursements of said action; that said writ of attachment was placed in the hands of said sheriff on the 19th day of April, 1906, for execution; that the property was attached by said sheriff on the 19th day of April, 1906, the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter, section 11, township 39 south, range 11 east, W. M., in Klamath County, Oregon.”
The complete part of Harpold’s affidavit with regard to the effort that had been made to find Guilliams within the State and to determine his place of residence is as follows:
“That said defendant cannot be found within the State of Oregon after due diligence, and that diligent search and inquiry has been made by this affiant of persons most likely to know of the whereabouts of said defendant, Ross Guilliams, as follows, to wit: On April 11, 1906, affiant inquired of J. C. Rutenic of Klamath Falls, Oregon, and the said J. C. Rutenic informed the affiant that the whereabouts of the said defendant, Ross Guilliams, was not known to him, the said J. C. Rutenic. That affiant likewise inquired of Crede McKindry, J. W. Brown, and Walter Broadsword, of Bonanza, Oregon, and all of said persons informed affiant that they did not know where the said defendant was, and also stated that they did not think he was within the State of Oregon. That I have repeatedly inquired of the postmaster at Bonanza, Oregon, the place where the said defendant, Ross Guilliams, formerly resided and where he was accustomed to get his mail, and was informed by the said
Based upon such affidavit, the judge of the court on September 12, 1906, or 146 days after the sworn declaration was filed, made an order reciting the substance of the affidavit and directing service of the summons by publication in the Klamath Falls Express, a weekly newspaper published in that county, once a week for six consecutive and successive weeks, the first publication to be made on Tuesday, September 20, 1906, and the last on November 1st of that year. The affidavit of the printer shows that the summons was published in the designated paper in its regular successive issues, beginning September 27, 1906, a week later than ordered, and ending at the time prescribed. Attached to the affidavit of the printer is a copy, of the summons printed, which process required Guilliams to appear and answer the complaint on or before November 1, 1906, and as far as material herein the printed copy reads as follows:
Founded on such proof, the court on December 4, 1906, determined that Guilliams was in default, and on the next day further found that his real property herein-before described had been attached, and thereupon gave judgment in favor of Harpold in the sums demanded in the complaint and also ordered the land so attached, or so much thereof as might be necessary, to be sold in the manner prescribed by law to satisfy the sums so awarded and the costs.and disbursements of the action, and the accruing costs. An execution was issued on the judgment and pursuant to the command thereof the sheriff’s return indorsed upon the writ shows that, after giving the required notice, he, on April 15, 1907, sold the real property in question “at the front door of the courthouse” in Klamath Falls to A. D. Harpold, the plaintiff herein, for $1,442.
W. F. Arant, the defendant herein, as plaintiff, commenced a suit April 17, 1907, against Roscoe R. Guilliams in the circuit court of Klamath County, Oregon, to quiet his title to the demanded land under the tax sale. Harpold, however, was not made a party. In the suit last mentioned the court on June 17, 1907, found that the summons had been duly served upon Guilliams by publication for six successive weeks in the Evening Herald, a newspaper of general circulation published in Klamath Falls, in that county, the first publication having been made April 19, 1907, and the last May 31st of that year, as appeared by the affidavit of the printer of that paper, all done in pursuance of and in conformity
The foregoing is a brief resume of the means whereby the respective parties assert a title to the real property involved herein. Predicated upon such evidence the court found that the summons in the case of Harpold against Guilliams did not correspond with the order of the court therefor; that the affidavit for the publication of process in that case did not state that Guilliams was the owner of any real property within that county, or affirm that his postoffice address was unknown; that the order of publication did not direct a copy of the complaint and of the summons to be mailed to his last known address; that the real property was publicly sold for delinquent taxes to Arant, the defendant herein, who thereafter secured a sheriff’s deed pursuant to such sale; that the tax proceedings and the deed executed in conformity therewith were regular on their face; and that Arant had secured a decree against Guilliams quieting his title to the real property. Based on these findings, the court deduced as conclusions of law that the judgment so obtained by Harpold was void for want of jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the person of Guilliams, that
It is argued by plaintiff’s counsel that since it appears from an inspection of the sheriff’s return, indorsed upon the tax warrant, that the real property so assessed to Guilliams was sold for delinquent taxes “at the front door of the courthouse,” the sale was for that reason void, and, such being the case, an error was committed in rendering the decree now brought up for consideration. It is further insisted by plaintiff’s counsel that though there may not have been a literal compliance with all the requirements of the statute in respect to the affidavit for the service of the summons by publication, or the order therefor, or the proof thereof, the trial court having originally held in the case of Harpold against Guilliams that the means adopted for that purpose were sufficient, to confer jurisdiction of the subject-matter and of the person, the determination thus reached is controlling in the cases at bar, in which the defense is a collateral attack upon plaintiff’s title to the land, and, this being so, errors were committed in concluding that the judgment rendered in that action was void for any reason, and in denying the relief prayed for in the complaint herein.
As the defense interposed was not maintained at the time, or in the manner, or by the person authorized by law to avoid or correct the judgment given in the case of Harpold against Guilliams, it will be taken for granted, without deciding the question, that the defense is not a di
It will be remembered that the tax deed executed to Arant upon a sale of the land for delinquent taxes was recorded December 4, 1905, and that the real property was not attached until April 19, 1906. If therefore the tax proceedings were sufficient to divest Guilliams of his legal title, no lien upon the premises nor any estate therein could have been created by the attachment.
The law in force December 28, 1901, when Guilliam’s land was sold for delinquent taxes,.as far as involved herein, was as follows:
“All sales for delinquent taxes, as provided in this chapter, upon real estate, must be made as otherwise made in selling real estate upon execution, at the courthouse door.” Section 2826, Hill’s Ann. Laws.
The plaintiff’s counsel in support of the principle contended for cites the case of Rubey v. Huntsman, 32 Mo. 501 (82 Am. Dec. 143), where a statute of Missouri required sales of land for delinquent taxes to be made “before the courthouse door,” and, it appearing that a sale of land was made for delinquent taxes within the courthouse, it was held that the sale was void.
In the case at bar, the statute having commanded a sale of land for delinquent taxes to be made “at the courthouse door,” was the sale herein void because it was made “at the front door of the courthouse”? Does the transposition of the language of the enactment and the employment of the word “front” to qualify the word “door” render the sale ineffectual? As we view the statute, since the sale of land for delinquent taxes is required to be held “at
The foregoing is the only objection of importance made to the tax proceedings, and, believing that it is not sufficient to defeat the title of Arant, it follows that no lien was created upon the premises by the attachment, and hence it is unnecessary to consider whether or not the judgment in the case of Harpold against Guilliams is void for any reason.
The decree should be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.