Cane v. Herndon

Citations

• 107 La. 591

Syllabus

<p>Syllabus.</p> <p>1. under article 210 of the constitution of 1879, and act 85 of 1888, it was not obligatory upon the tax collector to recite in his tax deed the fact that, before offering the property as a whole, he had offered the least quantity that any bidder would buy for the taxes, interest and costs due thereon, and, if it be a fact that such previous offering was made, the tax purchaser should be permitted to prove it by evidence aliunde unless to do so would be to contradict the positive recitals of the deed.</p> <p>2. where the tax deed, in such case, is susceptible of interpretation, the presumption established by the constitution in favor of its prima facie validity extends to the meaning of the language used, and It will be presumed, prima facie, that, of two possible meanings, that meaning was intended agreeably to which the deed may be valid rather than that which must render it void.</p> <p>8. where two or more vacant lots, of the same size and value, in a city or town, are assessed together, for a lump sum, the constitutional requirement, as to offering the “ least quantity,” may be complied with, either by offering one of the lots or by asking bidders to compete by stating ancl designating the least quantity that they may be willing to buy for the taxes, interest and costs due on the whole.</p> <p>4. The failure of the collector to offer the least quantity before selling the whole property affects the title with a vice for which it may be annulled in an action brought within the legal delay, but which is not so radical as to protect the owner against the prescription denounced by section 66 of act 85 of 1888, or section 5 of act 105 of 1874.</p>