City of Miami v. Miami Realty, Loan & Guaranty Co.

Citations

• 57 Fla. 366

Syllabus

<p>T. Where several interlocutory orders are made in a case and only certain ones specified are appealed from, the appellate court will be confined to the orders mentioned in the appeal.</p> <p>2. A bill of complaint to enforce a lien on real estate for unpaid taxes is defective when it fails to allege when the taxes were assessed and the levy made.</p> <p>3. Tax proceedings are in invitum, and to be valid must be stricti juris, and, in a tax suit, the complainants pleading must set out a cause of action. Such facts must be alleged in the bill of complaint, not only that show a statutory liability, but the right of the complainant to recover.</p> <p>4. It is the bill of complaint in a tax suit, and not the notice of lien, which must set out the cause of action. The notice of the tax lien does not take the place of the bill of complaint. The giving of the notice of the lien may be one of the steps leading to the statutory liability of the defendant and the right of the complainant to recover, but the bill should specifically aver the assessment and levy of the tax for a stated year, so that an issue may be made and proof taken thereon.</p> <p>5. In a tax suit the court will take judiciai notice that the city possessed the authority given by the act of the legislature to levy, assess and collect taxes, and that unpaid taxes on- real estate constitute a lien on the property assessed.</p>