Starks v. Sawyer

Citations

• 56 Fla. 596

Syllabus

<p>1. A failure to comply strictly with those provisions of tax laws which are intended for the guide of officers in the conduct of business devolved upon them, designed to secure order, system and dispatch in proceedings, and by a disregard of which the rights of parties interested cannot be injuriously affected, will not usually render the proceeding void; but where the requisites prescribed are intended for the protection of the citizen, and to prevent a sacrifice of his property, and a disregard of them might and generally would injuriously affect his rights, they cannot be disregarded, and failure to comply with them will render the proceeding invalid.</p> <p>2. The provision of the statute requiring the Clerk of the Circuit Court to mail a copy of the notice of application for a tax deed to the owner of the land, or if the o.wner be unknown to deliver or mail such copy to the person last paying taxes on the property was intended for the benefit of the land owner, and a disregard of the provision when applicable renders the tax deed invalid.</p> <p>3. The validity of a tax sale certificate and the rights of the holder thereof, .other than a governmental agency of the State, are to be determined by the laws in force at the time the certificate is acquired. A statute subsequently passed cannot constitutionally impair any of the substantial rights secured to a private holder by the existing laws when the certificate was acquired.</p> <p>4. A statute enacted after the acquisition by a private party of a tax sale certificate, requiring a particular and additional notice to be'given to the owner of the land before a deed issues on the certificate, when the right to a deed had not become absolute and the giving of the notice imposes no burden upon the holder of the certificate, may not impair any substantial right of the holder of the certificate, and consequently may not be an impairment of vested property rights or a deprivation of property without due' process of l