Bull v. Kirk

Citations

• 37 S.C. 395
• 16 S.E. 151
• 1892 S.C. LEXIS 38

Syllabus

<p>1. Tax Sale—Sheriee’s Deed—Statutory Construction.—Section 2 of an act providing for the enforcement of payment of delinquent taxes by levy and sale (19 Stat., 863), directed that in case of sale the sheriff’s deed shall be held to be prima facie evidence of good title, and that all preliminary requirements of the law have been complied with; and that no action for the recovery of such land or its possession shall be maintained unless brought within two years from the date of sale. Then section 3 (19 Stat., 864; 20 Id., 51) declares that if the taxpayer, after levy, shall declare that the taxes have been paid or unjustly assessed, he can have such sale suspended, “provided, before said sale, he offers satisfactory evidence to the sheriff, that said taxes have been paid, or improperly assessed against him, and within twenty days thereafter take such steps as are provided by law for correction of unjust assessment, or to prove payment, and prosecute the same to a successful result, within a reasonable time. And in case the taxpayer, alleged to be in default, offers no such proof, or fails to take the course herein provided, he shall be deemed in law to have waived all exceptions to the omissions, errors, and irregularities (if any there be) in the assessment of said tax, and in all preliminaries to said sale, as prescribed by law, and to have admitted that each and all preliminary steps to said assessment and sale are in accordance with the requirements of law.” Held, that these two sections being in the same statute, must be so construed that both may stand, and, therefore, a taxpayer who fails to avail himself of the privileges granted in section 3, may, nevertheless, bring action for the recovery of his land within two years, under section 2, and in such action be permitted to show that the property sold was not the property advertised, the sheriff’s deed being prima facie, but not conclusive, evidence of good title.</p> <p>2. Proviso to Statutes.—Moreover, the