People v. Pearis & McDonald
People v. Pearis & McDonald
Opinion of the Court
The demurrer to the complaint was well taken, and should have been sustained upon the point that it does not appear from the complaint that the property assessed or assumed to have been assessed is within the County of El Dorado, or within the Revenue District where assessed.
It further appears from the complaint that the property was all assessed by the Township Assessor of Placerville Township; that it consists of personal property and two distinct parcels of real estate, but one parcel of which is alleged to be in Placerville Township; and it is not alleged and does not affirmatively appear that such township is in the County of El Dorado, the county in which the assessment is alleged to have been equalized.
Assuming the demurrer to have been properly overruled and the complaint sufficient, the plaintiff was entitled to judgment on the pleadings against the individual defendants and the real estate, as prayed for, as the denial of the defendants that they were, at the time of the assessment, the owners of the property described in the complaint, or any
If the property was not properly assessed to defendants, then the assessment and tax levied thereon imposes no legal obligation to pay the taxes so levied on defendants or any other person or party, and creates no lien on the real estate so assessed.
The judgment of the Court, as entered, is manifestly erroneous. The allegation of the complaint is that the property was assessed to the defendants, Pearis & McDonald, and that they were the owners thereof at the time of the assessment; and the judgment dismisses the suit as to the individual defendants, and renders judgment against the property. If the property was properly assessed to defendants, then that portion of the judgment dismissing the suit as to them is error; and if the property was not legally assessed to the individual defendants, then there was no legal claim for the taxes levied upon the property against defendants personally or the property, the assessment was void, and the suit should have been dismissed as to all.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded, and remittitur directed to issue forthwith.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA v. PEARIS & McDONALD and Certain Real Estate
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Complaint in Tax Suit.—In a suit for taxes on real estate, levied, as was alleged, in El Dorado County, the complaint failed to show that said property was within said county, or the Revenue District thereof within which it was assessed, or that said Revenue District was within said county; Held, that the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Answer in Tax Suit.—An answer to a sufficient complaint in a suit for taxes on real property, brought against the property and the alleged owner assessed therewith, which denies only that the personal defendant was, at the time of the assessment, the oivner of the property or any part thereof, without further denying in him all claim, title, or interest therein, is not such a denial as, by the Revenue Act, (section forty-two,) is permitted to be made, and it raises no issue as to the liability, as sought in the action, of either defendant. Illegal Assessment Creates no Liability or Lien.—An illegal assessment of real property imposes no obligation on the-owner to pay the tax for which it was levied, nor does it create a lien therefor on the property assessed.