57 Iowa 215 | Iowa | 1881
It seems to us too clear for question that a tax procured in this way cannot be sustained. It will not do to allow a tax to be voted upon the property of a township by offering and securing to residents, who alone can vote, immunity from the burden imposed. The only protection afforded to property from ruinous impositions arises from the fact that such bur
III. The defendant Mantz claims that he is entitled to pro
Van Shaick v. Robbins, Sibley v. Bullis, and Huston v. Markley, are all cases where there was a public sale in fact, but a fraudulent combination was entered into to prevent competition. It was held that the sales were voidable and not void, and that the title should be protected in the hands of an innocent purchaser for value: In Ellis v. Peck, it was held that the fact that the land was bid off at the tax sale by the deputy treasurer, rendered the title voidable but not void, and that an innocent purchaser for value would be protected. In Martin v. Ragsdale, 49 Iowa, 589, for the purposes of the case it is conceded that the sale was not publicly made, and the defendant is protected as a bona fide purchaser from the holder of the treasurer’s deed, under the doctrine of Van Shaick v. Robbins, and Sibley v. Bullis, supra. The facts upon which the decision is based are not stated, and in order to determine the value of the case as a precedent, it is necessary to consider the facts attending the sale then under consideration. The record upon which that case was determined shows that the sale was conducted in the following manner: All the lands on which the tax was delinquent for 1867 were advertised for sale on the first Monday of October, 1868. On that day the treasurer declared all such lands as offered for sale to the highest bidder, that is to the person who would pay the tax on a piece of land for the least amount thereof. The sale was adjourned from the first Monday of October to the first Monday of November, and all lands not sold when first offered were offered at the next adjourned sale, and so on, adjourning from month to month. All lands unsold for taxes
The case of Martin v. Ragsdale falls nearly under the facts, and fully under the principle of Leavitt v. Watson, 37 Iowa, 93, whilst the case at bar comes under the principle of Butler v. Delano, 42 Iowa, 350. Now, whilst Martin v. Ragsdale, was correctly decided under the facts involved, it is based solely upon Van Shaick v. Robbins and Sibley v. Bullis. We do not feel like extending the principle of those cases to a case where, as in the ease at bar, no sale at all was made, but after the adjournment of the sale the lands were simply marked sold, pursuant to a private arrangement between the pretended purchaser and the treasurer. If the treasurer can, by merely
A purchaser always runs some risk, against which he must protect himself by exacting covenants of warranty. The defendant cannot, we think, be protected as an innocent purchaser.