Rowlett v. Nash
Rowlett v. Nash
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court:
Being of the opinion that it was error to direct the verdict for the defendant, we shall confine our discussion to such questions raised by the assignments of error as may arise upon the new trial that must follow.
The proceedings for the levy and collection of the tax upon the lot in controversy, culminating in the deed made May 29,
It was therefore error to admit in evidence the report of the Commissioners for the purpose stated, over the objection of the plaintiff.
It follows that the judgment must be reversed, with costs, and the cause remanded with direction to set aside the verdict and award a new trial. Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ROWLETT v. NASH
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Ejectment; Tax Deeds; Tax Sales; Landlord and Tenant; Estoppel; Marshal’s Deed. 1. In an action of ejectment, a tax deed made in 1897, and purporting to convey the title of the delinquent owner, who is the common source of title, and mesne conveyances purporting to convey such title to the plaintiff', constitute a prima facie case of title in the plaintiff, under see. 5 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. at L. 396, chap. 117), providing that a tax deed shall be admitted and held to be prima facie evidence of a good and perfect title in fee simple, and all proceedings prior to said deed shall be presumed to be regular until the contrary be proven; and see. 18 of that act, providing that such act shall remain in force for each subsequent year after June 30, 1878, until repealed. 2. An objection by the plaintiff in ejectment, who claims under a tax deed made in 1897, which is prima facie evidence of title, to the admission of evidence tending to show that a report of the listing, sale, etc., referred to in the tax deed, was made by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia instead of by the collector of taxes, as required by sec. 175, D. C. Rev. Stat., should be sustained, as that section was repealed by the act of Congress of March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. at L. 396, chap. 117), which covered the general subject-matter of the former tax laws, and became a substitute therefor until repealed by the act of Congress of February 28, 1898 (30 Stat. at L. 250, chap. 32), relating to taxes and tax sales in the District of Columbia. (Citing United States ew rel. Bride v. Maefarland, 18 App. D. C. 120.) 3. One who occupies the land of another in subordination to such other’s title, and with his assent, becomes his tenant, so far, at least, as to estop him to deny the title; and this estoppel extends to anyone who enters under said tenant by assignment or purchase. 4. Where a person purchased from a tenant in possession of part of a lot, a house on tho lot belonging to the tenant, in order to obtain surrender of possession by the tenant of such part of the lot, the purchaser is estopped to deny the title of one claiming under the landlord, so far as that part of the lot is concerned, in a subsequent action of ejectment by the landlord’s grantee to recover possession of the lot; and a permit by the landlord to the tenant to remove a house onto a lot other than the one in controversy, offered in evidence by the defendant, is irrelevant and admissible. 5. Where the plaintiff in ejectment claims title under a tax deed, which shows the prima facie title to be in him, the defendant must show that the tax sale culminating in the deed was void for failure to comply with the requirements of the tax law in force when the deed was made. 6. A marshal’s deed of land, which recites a levy upon and sale of the property under a judgment, is not sufficient to show title to the land to be in the grantee named in the deed, but the grantee, if he claims to be the owner of the property, must prove the judgment and the execution.