53 Ark. 445 | Ark. | 1890
In these cases the appellees brought suits in ejectment to recover lands described in their respective complaints, and relied for title upon deeds to themselves made by the state land commissioner upon forfeitures of ■the lands to the State under the overdue tax act, approved March 12, 1881. The answers to the complaints admitted the sales under the overdue tax act, and averred that no ■title passed to the State thereunder, because there was no ■confirmation of the sales by the chancery court under decree of which they were made, and urged other grounds against ■the legality and validity of the sales, two of which were that the overdue tax act was unconstitutional (which we do not .propose to discuss here), and that no deeds for the lands ■were made to the State as required by the act. Demurrers were interposed to the answers and sustained. Appellants appealed to this court from the judgments sustaining the demurrers.
We can discover no sound reason why, in cases of sales to the State, the individuals whose lands were sold were not entitled to the same right to make objections to the regularity of the sales as in cases of sales to individuals. The act makes no distinction, and the court can make none. The sale was a judicial sale, made under decree and directions of the chancery court, by a commissioner of the court, who was required to make a report to the court of his proceedings, which was required to stand open for exceptions, the sustaining of which necessitated the ordering of a new sale, and the overruling of which resulted in the confirmation of the sale and in the adjudication that it was valid. This confirmation of the sale made the purchaser’s evidences of title “conclusive against all the world.”
In a judicial sale, the court is the vendor, and there is no completed sale until confirmation by the court, which is the acceptance of the bidder’s offer. The commissioner or officer making the sale is merely the instrument of the court, and acts under its directions as to the time, terms and place of sale, and offers for sale only specific property condemned and ordered to be offered for sale by the decree of the court. Rorer on Judicial Sales, secs. 1 to 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 2$. The highest bidder at a judicial sale is only a preferred bidder subject to confirmation. Busey v. Hardin, 2 B. Monroe, 407. The sales to the State in these cases conferred no title upon the State, for the reason that they were not confirmed by the chancery court, and the State is only a preferred bidder until confirmation, which is necessary to complete her title.
The judgments of the courts below sustaining the demurrers to the answers in these cases are reversed, and the causes are remanded.