Hopkins v. Rettinger

Citations

• 230 Pa. 192
• 79 A. 255
• 1911 Pa. LEXIS 587

Syllabus

<p>Tax liens — Tax sale — Divestiture of lien — City of Pittsburg.</p> <p>1. Until the passage of the general Act of June 4, 1901, P. L. 364, amended by the Act of May 28, 1907, P. L. 280, tax liens in the city of Pittsburg were regulated and governed by the Act of May 16, 1857, P. L. 541, and not by the Act of March 22, 1877, P. L. 16, which was declared unconstitutional in Safe Deposit & Trust Co. v. Fricke, 152 Pa. 231.</p> <p>2. A judicial sale in the year 1888, of land situated in the city of Pittsburg divested a tax lien on such land, even though the proceeds of the sale were not sufficient to pay the lien in full.</p> <p>3. There is nothing in the Act of February 3, 1824, P. L. 18, extended to Allegheny county by the Act of April 5, 1844, P. L. 199, the language being practically similar to the Act of May 16, 1857, P. L. 541, which justified the court in concluding, as in Pittsburg’s Appeal, 70 Pa. 142, that if on any judicial sale enough to pay off the taxes was not realized the unextinguished balance continued to be a lien.</p> <p>4. Statutes providing that taxes shall be a lien which shall be fully paid and satisfied before other liens, are to be construed as not preserving the lien of such taxes from divestiture by judicial sale.</p>