Elizondo v. Read
| Decision Date | 18 July 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 50A040-8902-CV-00050,50A040-8902-CV-00050 |
| Citation | 556 N.E.2d 959 |
| Parties | Urbano ELIZONDO and Irma Elizondo, Appellants, v. Thomas I. READ and Jacqueline K. Read, husband and wife; Auditor of Marshall County; 1st Source Bank of South Bend, f/k/a First Bank and Trust, Appellees. |
| Court | Indiana Appellate Court |
The Auditor of Marshall County (defendant-appellee) petitions this court for a rehearing of our decision in Elizondo v. Read (1990), Ind.App., 553 N.E.2d 849, in which we held that a certified mailing of notice of the sale to property owners' "last known address," as required by Indiana statute 1, was inadequate to satisfy due process where mail was returned by the post office and the correct, current address was available to the auditor in the public records. Due process requires the auditor to provide actual notice to any party whose address is reasonably ascertainable as a constitutional precondition to a proceeding which will adversely affect the party's liberty or property interests. We grant rehearing to address a related issue which was not discussed.
The Auditor contends our decision was erroneous because the Elizondos' claim was barred by the absolute one year statute of limitations, as set forth by Ind.Code 6-1.1-25-17 2, which provides:
Sec. 17. A person must initiate an action to contest the validity of one's title to real property claimed by virtue of a deed executed under section 4 of this chapter within one (1) year after the date the deed is executed. The title becomes absolute after the expiration of the one (1) year period, unless:
(1) the title has previously been held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(2) an action contesting the validity of the title is pending when the time period expires.
Here, defendants-appellees Thomas I. Read and Jacqueline K. Read were the grantees of a Tax Title Deed issued by the Auditor of Marshall County on August 18, 1986 and recorded on August 19, 1986 in the Office of the Recorder of Marshall County. The Elizondos' complaint was filed in this cause on October 20, 1987. The Auditor argues the Elizondos' complaint was too late.
We disagree. In United States v. 88.28 Acres of Land (7th Cir 1979), 608 F.2d 708, the court of appeals (applying Indiana law) observed that a claim of title resting on a tax deed is not always highly regarded by the courts and may not be shielded by the statute of limitations. The court explained:
Because purchasers at tax sales often pay only a small percentage of the true value of the land sold, the courts have been reluctant to disseize a delinquent landowner and have relied upon sometimes minor irregularities in the assessment of the tax or in the conduct of the tax sale in order to invalidate the...
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Elizondo v. Read
...trial court's entry of summary judgment against Urbano and Irma Elizondo. Elizondo v. Read (1990), Ind.App., 553 N.E.2d 849, on reh'g. 556 N.E.2d 959. The Court of Appeals' decision effectively invalidated a tax sale of property owned by the Elizondos. The question squarely presented by the......
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Centrium Group v. State Bd. of Tax Com'rs
...(1986), Ind.App., 500 N.E.2d 1229. In 1990, the court of appeals decided Elizondo v. Read (1990), Ind.App., 553 N.E.2d 849, on reh'g, 556 N.E.2d 959, holding that auditors are required to "check the public records to ascertain the correct address of any party whose property interests are to......