Edwin Forrest Home v. Shattuck

Citations

• 64 Pa. Super. 239
• 1916 Pa. Super. LEXIS 283

Syllabus

<p>Taxation—Liability for taxes—Mortgage — Foreclosure — Heirs</p> <p>Where an owner of land subject to the lien of a mortgage fails to pay the taxes assessed .on the land, and subsequently defaults on the mortgage, and the owner of the mortgage proceeds upon that instrument and obtains a judgment and at a sheriffs sale upon the judgement buys the land for a sum insufficient to pay both the taxes and mortgage, and in order to save the property pays the arrears of taxes, he may maintain an action of assumpsit against the owner of the land at the time the taxes became a charge upon the property, which charge the owner should have paid; and if the ownér is dead, and his heirs have exercised acts of ownership over the land, such as continuing in possession of it and offering it for sale, they may be held liable for the taxes in arrear.</p> <p>In such a case if the nominal purchaser at the sheriff sale is not the owner of the mortgage, but actually takes title and holds the property for the mortgagee, the latter when compelled to pay the taxes, is still within the rule, and may recover.</p>