Wiswell v. Beck

Citations

• 92 Wash. 208
• 158 P. 976
• 1916 Wash. LEXIS 1138

Syllabus

<p>Taxation — Recovery of Tax Paib — Mistake—Rights of Payer— Subsequent Conveyance — Statutes. Rem. & Bal. Code, § 9277, providing that a property owner who pays taxes on the land of another by mistake may demand reimbursement and if refused, may surrender the tax receipts and take out a certificate of delinquency, is based on the continuing ownership of the land, and has no application where the land has been transferred to a tona fide purchaser who has relied on the records showing payment of the taxes.</p> <p>Same. The payer of taxes on the land of another by mistake has no common law right of lien or reimbursement, as against a tona fide purchaser of the land who obtained the treasurer’s certificate that the taxes were paid; the state’s lien for unpaid taxes not being transferred in such case, as against an innocent purchaser; especially in view of the maxim that, where one of two innocent parties must suffer through the act of another, the loss must fall upon the party who made the loss possible.</p> <p>Same. Rem. & Bal. Code, § 9233, allowing recovery for taxes paid by persons obligated to pay the same has no application to a property owner paying taxes on the land of another through mistake.</p>