Vivó Vilella v. Medina
Vivó Vilella v. Medina
Opinion of the Court
delivered tie opinion of tire court.
The property involved in this action of revendication, while it belonged to the Banco Industrial, was sold by the Collector of Internal Revenue of Lares on January 29, 1941, for the payment of taxes for the years 1934-35 to 1938-39. José Collazo appeared at the tax sale and purchased it on behalf of Catalina Vélez de Sosa, who lived in Collazo’s house, for the sum of $93.78, which was the amount of taxes due, and a certificate of purchase was issued on February 19 following. Since the Banco Industrial had left no one in charge of the premises, the purchaser immediately- took possession thereof.
Upon the certificate of purchase being presented in the registry, the registrar refused to record it on the ground that the property was ¿ncumbered by a mortgage in favor of the holder of a mortgage note, and that it did not appear from
In order to recover this property Salvador Vivó brought this action of revendication against José Medina Ríos. The lower-court rendered judgment sustaining appellee’s complaint, and it is from this judgment that Medina has taken the present appeal.
Appellant contends that the lower court erred in deciding that the redemption took place within the statutory period of one year. In support of his theory he alleges that the certificate of sale issued on February 19, 1941, was valid, and that, therefore, when the property was redeemed before the Collector of Internal Revenue of Lares on July 14, 1942, the period of one year had long expired. The alleged validity of the certificate of sale of February 19,1941, is predicated upon plaintiff’s contention to the effect that the Banco Industrial itself had been owner of the note payable to btearer and that the property had been adjudicated to it in payment thereof, for which reason, it was not necessary to publish the edicts in order to notify the alleged holder of the note.
From the certificate of the registrar of property (defendant’s exhibit “L”) it appears that in fact the property was adjudicated to the bank in payment of the note in question, and that the mortgage securing it had not been canceled in the registry because the note had not been duly canceled when presented, as required by § 82 of the Mortgage Law. But in the present case Catalina Vélez de Sosa abided by the decision of the registrar with respect to the first certificate of sale and accepting it as void returned it to the collector. Since a certificate could not be lawfully issued without notifying the persons who held interests in the property, edicts were published for this purpose and on August 21, 1941 the new certificate was issued. It is from this latter date that the
Appellant urges that the redemption was also void on the following grounds: (a) Because no tender of- payment was previously made to the purchaser, Catalina Vélez de Sosa; (b) because the collector was not the officer with whom the deposit should have been made; and (c) because the amount delivered by the Banco Industrial to the collector as redemption money was incomplete, inasmuch as it did not include the amount of certain taxes on the property which had been paid by Catalina Vélez de Sosa.
It appears from the record that Attorney Pedro Juan Al-calá, together with Mr. Carlos D. Espinet, acting Collector of Internal Revenue of Lares, visited José Collazo’s house for the purpose of tendering the redemption money to Catalina Vélez de Sosa, and that Collazo, who as we have seen had purchased the property in the name of this lady, refused to let them make any tender to her, for which reason the money was deposited with the Collector of Internal Revenue of La-res.
Under § 349 of the Political Code, in force at the time the distraint proceeding had begun, where the purchaser refused to receive the redemption money, the owner was authorized to deposit it with the registrar of property of the municipality within which the property was located; but when § 349 was amended on April 14, 1941, the collectors of internal revenue where the property is located were authorized to receive the redemption money and to issue the corresponding certificate. Appellant urges that since the distraint proceeding was commenced under the law existing prior to 1941, the procedure set forth in said law should have been followed and, consequently, it was the registrar and not the collector of internal
Lastly, the fact that the Banco Industrial had failed to refund a certain amount of taxes paid by Catalina Velez de Sosa
The judgment must be affirmed.
It appears from the record that when the bank learned of those tax payments it tendered them to her but she refused to accept the payments.
It appears from the record that these taxes were paid in the Treasury Department in San Juan and such payment does not appear in the files of the Collector- of Internal Revenue.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.