105 Neb. 479 | Neb. | 1920
The plaintiff, Charles W. Sanford, brought this suit to ^ foreclose a mortgage of $500 on lot 10, in block 1, East
Appellant contends that when the defendant Rosenthal obtained a quitclaim deed from the heirs of the mortgagor on August 24, 1916, the tax title he had acquired on January 13, 1915, became merged into it, and that, therefore, Rosenthal holds the premises subject to plaintiff’s mortgage. Of course, if Rosenthal holds under a valid tax deed, he owns the premises free of plaintiff’s mortgage, under the authority of Topliff v. Richardson, 76 Neb. 114. But, if he holds under the quitclaim deed, the mortgage, if valid, would still subsist, and the court erred in striking the allegations of merger. We do not think, however, under the admitted facts, that there was any merger. In Longfellow v. Barnard, 58 Neb. 612, this court said: “Whether a merger results from the possession by the same person at the same time of two estates of different rank
Appellant’s next contention is that the tax deed is void because the published notice of the expiration of the time for redemption and of the applicaton for a tax deed under section 6543, Rev. St. 1913, is fraudulent upon its face. To make appellant’s position clear, it is necessary to state some of the undisputed facts. The mortgage sought to be foreclosed was given by Emily C. Stone and her husband, ■ George W. Stone, on October 3, 1901, to Woodward Brothers, and acquired by plaintiff by assignment, which, though challenged, will be treated as valid for the purpose of this opinion. On February 25, 1902, Emily O. Stone died, and on April 3, 1902, her will was admitted to probate in the county court of Lancaster county, Nebraska. On the 5th day of November, 1912, the lot in question was sold at public sale to the defendant Rosenthal for delinquent taxes thereon for the year 1911. On the 10th, 17th and 24th days of July, 1914, the purchaser published a notice in the Firth Echo, setting forth that he had purchased the lot at public tax sale on November 5, 1912, and that at the expiration of three months from the service cf the notice and after November 5, 1914, he would, apply to
It is finally argued by appellant that the tax deed was void for want of a witness. Section 6546, Rev. St. 1913, prescribes the form of the tax deed and it requires no witness. The section then provides: “The deed so made by the county treasurer shall be under his official seal of office and acknowledged by him before some officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and when so executed and acknowledged shall be recorded in the same manner as other conveyances of real estate, and when so recorded
Our conclusion is that the tax deed conveyed the title to the defendant Rosenthal free from the lien of plaintiff’s mortgage, and that the judgment of the district court is right, and we recommend that it be affirmed.
For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is affirmed, and this opinion is adopted by and made the opinion of the court.
Affiemed.