Bank of Indianola v. Dodds
Bank of Indianola v. Dodds
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The breach of the bond in this case is manifestly the failure to pay to the purchaser the overbids when the redemptions occurred. There had been no redemptions of any of the lands sold in March, 1904, prior to the execution and approval of the bond upon which the appellant is the surety. All the redemptions in the case were effected during the early part of the year 1906, except one redemption in April, 1905. The appellee paid $1,364 to the tax collector in excess of the taxes, damages, etc., at the sale in March, 1904, and $2,513 excess over the taxes, etc., due at the sale in March, 1905. The amounts of these two overbids were never repaid to the purchaser, the ap
The sections of the law involved are §§ 3819, 3820, and 3824 of the Code of 1892, which are respectively as follows:
“Section 3819. Failure of Purchaser to Pay Bid. — If the purchaser of land at tax sale shall not immediately pay the amount of his bid, the collector shall offer the land again and if some person will not then bid the amount of the taxes, it shall be struck off to the state, as in other cases; but the first purchaser shall be liable for the amount of his bid, to be collected by suit in the name of the state; and, on the same being collected, the tax list shall be cancelled as to that land, and it shall be conveyed by the auditor to the person from whom the amount has been recovered.
“Section 3820. Disposition of Excess in Amount of Bid.— If any land be sold for more than the amount of taxes due and
“Section 3824. Purchaser Entitled to Excess in Case of Redemption. — If the purchaser bid at a tax sale, - and pay over, a sum larger than the full amount of the taxes, damages, and costs, and the excess at the time of the redemption be in the hands of the tax collector, the same shall be refunded to the purchaser, and the collector’s bond shall be liable therefor. In such case, if only a part of the land be redeemed, the excess shall be apportioned ratably to the amount of taxes due at the time of the sale on the respective parts.”
The contentions with respect to the liability of the appellee as surety are as follows: The appellant insists that the breach of the bond occurred when the tax collector collected the amount of the overbids on the two sales — the first amount of $1,364 in March, 1904, and the second amount of $2,513 in March, 1905 — and that consequently, of course, the appellant would only be liable as to the second overbid collected in March, 1905, and this it admits it is liable for. The appellee, on the other hand, insists, and manifestly correctly, that the breach of the bond never occurred, constituting the liability in this case, until the redemptions had been made, and it then became the duty of the tax collector to refund the amounts ofv the overbids to the purchaser. Undoubtedly this is the true view. The money remained in the hands of the tax collector from the dates’of the sales, and he owed no duty of refunding the amounts of the overbids until the redemptions occurred. The moment the redemptions did occur there arose the legal duty on the-part of the tax collector to refund to the purchaser
With regard to the cross-appeal it will be carefully noted that sec. 3820, supra, expressly provides that if the owner of the land shall accept the overbid, thus taking and using it, he shall pay interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum; but if the' owner does not accept the overbid, and the amount of such overbid remains in the hands of the tax collector, sec. 3824 provides merely that the tax collector, when the redemptions shall have been effected, shall refund “the same” — that is, the amount of the overbid — to the purchaser. In other words, here are two statutes on the same subject-matter, one of which expressly provides for the payment of interest by the owner in case he takes and uses money,' and the other of which expressly declares that the tax collector shall refund to the purchaser, where he keeps the money, only the amount of the overbid, saying nothing about interest. The tax collector cannot use the money as the owner might. He is to keep the
We think the learned chancellor was correct in all respects in his decree, and it is affirmed, both on direct and cross appeal.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Bank of Indianola v. Samuel L. Dodds
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Taxation. Tax sales. Excess of bid. Tax collector's liability. Official bond. Interest on excess. Code 1892, §§ 3820, 3824. Under Code 1892, §§ 3820, 3824, regulating the subject, the liability of a tax collector, receiving from a tax sale purchaser a sum in excess of the taxes and costs for which the sale was made and retaining the same, to repay the excess arises when redemption from the tax sale is effected, and a failure to then pay over is a breach of his official bond; hut he is not liable for interest on the excess before the redemption.