Vannetta v. Busbey
Vannetta v. Busbey
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs brought suit claiming ownership by inheritance from the former owner and tax debtor of an undivided half interest in 10 acres of land in the N. W. ]4 of S. W. of N. W. % of section 5, township 17, range 13, in the parish of Caddo, alleging that defendants are asserting title to said interest by virtue of a sale made July 23, 1892, for state and parish taxes of 1891, at which the property sold was described as “one-half interest in 10 acres of land in the N. W. % of S. W. % of section 5, township 17, range 13,” that said description was insufficient to indentify the land, and that the sale was therefore void and of no effect as to their property, and they prayed that it be so decreed. Defendants set up the sufficiency of the description, averred that through the original tax purchaser, Joseph L. Busbey (under whom they claim), and themselves they have been in actual possession of the property since the date of the sale, and* pleaded the prescription of 3, 5, and 10 years.
The district court gave judgment for plaintiffs, holding the description to be insufficient to identify the property, and that judgment was affirmed by the court of appeals. It will be seen that the 10 acres in which the disputed half interest is to be found lies in section 5, township 17, range. 13, but that, whereas it is situated in the N. W. ]4 of S. W. % of N. W. it was described, for the purposes of the assessment, as being situated in the N. W. *4 of S. W. 14 of that section. It is, however, admitted that- the tax debtor owned no other property in section 5, township 17, range 13, than the undivided half interest in the one 10-acre lot, and it is beyond dispute that there was assessed to him one undivided half interest in a 10-acre lot in that section, township, and range, which interest was sold for taxes in 1892, and of which the tax purchaser and those holding under him took possession at the time, and
The case, we think, falls within the rulings of In re Lockhart, 109 La. 747, 33 South. 753; N. O. Land Co. v. Nat. Realty Co., 121 La. 200, 46 South. 208; Gouaux v. Beaullieu, 123 La. 684, 49 South. 285; Weber v. Martinez, 125 La. 663, 51 South. 679; In re Perrault’s Estate, 128 La. 453, 54 South. 939.
It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the judgments of the court of appeals of the district court here complained of be avoided and reversed, and that there now be judgment for defendants (applicants herein) rejecting plaintiffs’ demand and dismissing their suit, with costs in all courts.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- VANNETTA v. BUSBEY In re BUSBEY
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by the Court.) Taxation (§ 734*) — Tax Sales — Description-Identity oe Property. A person owning an undivided half interest in 10 acres of land in N. W. % of S. W. % of N. W.% of section 5, township 17,_ range 13, and owning no other property in said section, township, and range, and there being_ assessed to him and sold for taxes an undivided half interest in 10 acres of land in N. W. % of S. W. % of section 5; township 17, range 13, and the purchaser having taken possession of the only undivided half interest in 10 acres of land owned by the tax debtor in said section, and having remained in possession for many years and until disturbed by the former owner or those claiming under him by inheritance, asserting, not that the tax purchaser had bought one property and taken possession of another, but that he had bought nothing, because the description under which the adjudication to him was made was imperfect and insufficient to identify any property. Held, that the description under which the tax sale was made was sufficient to identify the property owned by the tax debtor, and that the tax purchaser acquired a good title thereto. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Taxation, Cent. Dig. §§ 1470-1473; Dec. Dig. § 734.*]