99 Mo. 529 | Mo. | 1889
The petition in this cause, as found In plaintiffs’ abstract, is as follows: It sets forth, in substance, that appellants, in 1870, were minors, ranging from four to eight years in age, and, in 1871, ■one Ott was, by the probate court, appointed their .guardian, they having, in 1870, inherited, from their parents, a lot in St. Louis and nothing else; and that, during their minority, their only income was léntal, derived from the property until 1880 (when It was sold by the sheriff for back taxes), and the wages they earned, which sufficed for their support, ;and no further; that, in 1875, while they were still minors, general taxes on said lot, in the sum of $69.52, •were assessed and became payable; that their guardian,
Appellants allege that the failure of their guardian to pay the taxes and the dismissal of the suit, as to him, and the appointment of the collector’s attorney, were a fraud, by reason of which they lost their lot. Appellants allege further that the selling price of the lot, two hundred and ten dollars, was wholly inadequate in comparison to the true market value thereof at the time, that is, five thousand dollars.
“Wherefore, they ask that the sheriff’s deed and other deeds following, be cancelled, and the title to the lot vested in appellants upon such conditions as the court may impose, and for other relief.
The several defendants demurred on the grounds of no equity in the bill and no statement of cause of action. Judgment for defendants on demurrers, final judgment and appeal.
The only thing left, therefore, for consideration is as to the sale and the rights of the subsequent purchasers. Mere inadequacy of price is insufficient to set aside a judicial sale. There must be some fraud in the transaction as a general rule, where the sale is open and no improper practices are shown on the part of the purchaser, unless the inadequacy is so gross as per se to amount to prove fraud in one of its numerous manifestations on the part of the purchaser. Phillips v. Stewart, 59 Mo. 491, and cases cited; 2 Pom. Eq., secs. 926, 927; Davis v. Dreisback, 81 Ill. 393.
But granting that there was inadequacy of price at the tax sale, and gross inadequacy at that, there- is nothing in the allegations of. the petition which connects the subsequent purchasers with that inadequacy of price, or with notice thereof. The statement made that the various considerations mentioned in the other deeds,
Therefore, judgment affirmed.