Conway v. Cable

Citations

• 37 Ill. 82

Syllabus

<p>1. Constitution — legislative power. The legislature, by retrospective enactment, is powerless to divest an individual, of a vested right; but may require that acts shall be performed in the future; and declare that their omission shall subject an individual to the forfeiture of such a right.</p> <p>2. Tax sale — illegal cannot be cured. Where the officers, conducting a'tax sale, omit essential acts, rendering it invalid, the legislature are powerless to cure the defect, and render the sale valid. And when such officers, by an agreement with purchasers to receive a portion only of the taxes due, at the sale, such agreement being illegal, a sale under the agreement is also illegal ; and is not rendered valid by a subsequent law declaring the agreement and sale valid and binding.</p> <p>3. Same — owner'of lands incurs no forfeiture by illegal sale. An owner of land incurs no forfeiture, by permitting his land to pass to sale for taxes, if the sale is not legally conducted. It devolves upon the purchaser to see, that all the requirements of the law have been observed, if he expects to acquire title at a tax sale.</p> <p>4. Legislative power—cannot impose unreasonable terms to the assertion of a right. When a right has become vested, the legislature has no power to impose penalties, or terms as a condition, to the assertion of the right. Nor have they the power, where an individual has permitted his land to pass to a void sale for taxes, to enact that he shall not be allowed to assert his paramount title, as a defense against a tax title acquired at such a sale, without paying the redemption money.</p> <p>5. Tax sale — curative legislation. The act of the 21st of February, 1861, declaring that certain defenses shall not be made, to tax deeds executed after the adoption of the law, until the redemption money is tendered, does not operate upon sales made before its passage, but, if at all, only on subsequent tax sales.</p>