106 Minn. 32 | Minn. | 1908
On October 23, 1908, the following opinion was filed:
Plaintiff, as the owner in fee under sale for taxes assessed for the year 1898 and in possession of certain premises in Hennepin county, Minnesota, brought this action against defendant, which, in its final form, resolved itself into an action to determine adverse claims. The defendant bought the land at a tax sale held in November, 1906, for forfeited lands. The sale was based on a judgment,
These sections naturally suggest the construction that at the end of the three years land bid in to the state and not redeemed or sold is absolutely forfeited to the state. In point of fact, however, the state undertakes to sell, not an absolute, but a qualified, interest. It expressly recognizes the right of the owner and other persons sufficiently interested in the property to redeem the land. This is obviously inconsistent with the conception of the absolute and unqualified property in the state. This view accords with the-history, not only of previous, but of subsequent legislation, as was set forth in State v. Scott, 105 Minn. 69, 117 N. W. 417. That case, however, was governed by the Revised Laws of 1905, and arose after a significant change was made in the language of the law by section 1, c. 430, p. 613, Laws 1907. As was pointed out in it, the purpose of these statutory provisions is to secure revenue from public lands as speedily and as inexpensively as may be. No valid reason appears for interpreting these provisions so as to put the state in the light of a speculator by selling the land for more than the charge due the state against it. The provision for paying the excess into the state is not necessarily inconsistent with this conception. The land may never be redeemed. In that case the surplus will remain in the state treasury. This construction gives adequate meaning
The analogy of mortgage foreclosure sale is apt. The state, like the mortgagee, has a lien. It forecloses that lien. Upon redemption the full sum of the sale is paid to the purchaser. If there be any surplus, or if there be redemption by the mortgagor, the mortgagor is entitled to the surplus. In the case at bar, therefore, as far as the matter of surplus is concerned, this requirement of the payment by the owner of the land of the full amount of the tax sale conforms with the express language of section 946, subd. 3.
It follows, accordingly, that plaintiff was not entitled to redeem from the sale for the amount which excluded the surplus. Questions as to how the landowner can recover the surplus are not before us.
Another objection in this connection is a more serious one. The certified copy of the resolution recommended the acceptance of the bid of the “Minneapolis Tribune,” that a contract be awarded to “them” upon the filing of a proper bond for the faithful performance of said contract, and that the chairman- be instructed to enter into a contract as per the specifications in bid. A commissioner thereupon offered the following resolution: “Resolved, that the report of the committee be accepted and its recommendations concurred in. Adopted.” This undoubtedly was not in conformity with the designation in preceding and in following years throughout the state generally. In practice this has been followed by a resolution designating the newspaper by resolution so certified and filed. Such resolution does not appear upon this record. The Minneapolis Tribune was not expressly described as a newspaper. To refer to the Minneapolis Tribune as “them” fails to conform with good grammar. It is urged, also, that ■if it be held valid, then it would be immaterial that the bond and lawful contract be made. None the less the county commissioners had acted in such a way as to lead a person of ordinary intelligence, examining the record, to understand that the newspaper named the “Minneapolis Tribune” had been designated. It is not reasonable to question that a newspaper was described.
No decision of this court on the subject is inconsistent with this conclusion. Upon filing the bond, the contract was completed, and the transaction created mutual obligations. That bond would have been valid and enforceable. While it is true that the means of obtaining jurisdiction must conform in every essential respect to the statute/ it does not at all follow that every failure to conform to recognized practice, grammatical requirement, or technically correct phraseology-will invalidate a designation which is substantially in accord with statutory requirements. If perfection in the performance of duties-were
Section 52, c. 2, p. 28, Raws 1902, reads as follows: “All pieces or parcels of real property bid in for the state under the provisions of this act, and not assigned to purchasers, and not redeemed within three years from the date of the tax sale at which the same were offered for sale, shall become the absolute property of the state, and shall be disposed oí cin the manner as provided in sections 53 and
The reference to section 936 had the same legal effect as to land referred to in section 52, c. 2, p. 28, Raws 1902. Section 936 is a different name for the legislation enacted by section 52, c. 2, p. 28, Raws 1902. Section 936 was not a new enactment, but a restatement of a previously enacted law. To hold the description good is entirely consistent with Stein v. Hanson, 99 Minn. 387, 109 N. W. 821. No change was made by the legislature. The Raws of 1902 governing the sale is the legislation so described under a different name. The result was to make section 936 retroactive.
Affirmed.
The case having been reargued, the following opinion was filed on January 29, 1909:
On reargument plaintiff insists that no judgment had been procured or rendered on taxes of 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, or either of them, after their refundment and prior to the forfeit sale under which de
The conclusion does not follow from the premises. On judgment rendered in 1896 for taxes of 1894, the sale was made to plaintiff’s grantor, who voluntarily paid delinquent taxes of 1895,1896, and 1897. In 1901 that judgment was satisfied and plaintiff reimbursed as to taxes of 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1897. On subsequent sale for these taxes the rights of the parties would have been determined, not by State v. Camp, 79 Minn. 343, 82 N. W. 645, and Gates v. Keigher, 99 Minn. 138, 108 N. W. 860, but by State v. Kipp, 80 Minn. 119, 82 N. W. 1114; Oakland Cemetery Assn. v. County of Ramsey, 98 Minn. 404, 108 N. W. 857, 109 N. W. 237, 116 Am. St. 377, and Allen v. County of Ramsey, 98 Minn. 341, 108 N. W. 301. In this view the conclusion originally reached was correct.
In point of fact, however, the taxes for the year 1905 were duly levied and assessed, and the auditor, in extending the said taxes upon the said lands entered therewith the levied taxes of 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1897. It was erroneously assumed in the original opinion herein that the sale made in 1906 was upon a judgment rendered thereon. The sale under which defendant claims, and which is here involved, was made in November, 1906, upon the taxes for the year 1900.- These taxes became forfeited to the state because the same had not been bid in by an actual purchaser and had not been redeemed for more than three years after the sale to the state. The county auditor forwarded to the state auditor a list of the lands including the lots here in question which had been forfeited to the state. The state auditor, pursuant to the law, directed the forfeited sale. At the sale the lots in issue were sold to defendant real estate company for an amount which was largely in excess of the total taxes for the years 1900, 1902, and 1903, the current taxes of 1905, and the refunded taxes for 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1897. The surplus above the amount due the state, as was held in the original opinion, will come finally to the plaintiff. The amount due the state, including the refunded taxes, properly goes to the state.
The land was forfeited to the state. It had a right to determine on what conditions it would dispose of its estate. It might have sold a
The original conclusion must therefore be adhered to.
See opinion on reargument, page 41.