Norton v. Barefoot

• Decision Date: 24 April 1934
• Docket Number: Case Number: 22221,Case Number: 22222
• Parties: NORTON v. BAREFOOT et al. NORTON v. HERREN et al.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1934 OK 252

32 P.2d 28

168 Okla. 112

NORTON v. BAREFOOT et al.

NORTON v. HERREN et al.

Case Number: 22221

Case Number: 22222

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: April 24, 1934

Syllabus

¶0 Taxation--Void Tax Deed Ineffective to Set in Operation One--Year Statute of Limitations so as to Give Prescriptive Title to Holder of Deed in Possession.

One who takes possession of real property and retains possession thereof for more than one year under a tax deed which is admittedly void on its face or for jurisdictional defects does not acquire a title by prescription to said property as against the record owner thereof by virtue of the short statute of limitations provided by section 12763, O. S. 1931.

Appeal from District Court, Oklahoma County; Lucius Babcock, Judge.

Actions by Emma M. Norton against J. E. Barefoot et al. and against J. M. Herren et al., consolidated. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

James C. Cheek and Albert L. McRill, for plaintiff in error.

Leo G. Mann, Hal B. Downing, Twyford & Smith, and G. LeeGibbs, for defendants in error.

OSBORN, J.

¶1 Emma M. Norton brought two actions in the district court of Oklahoma county, one against J. M. Herren or his unknown heirs, devisees, executors, and administrators; the other against J. E. Barefoot and the Co-Operative Publishing Company, for the purpose of quieting title to certain real property located in Oklahoma county. The issues in both actions were identical and they were consolidated for the purpose of trial and appeal. The trial court rendered judgment against plaintiff, from which she has appealed. The parties will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court.

¶2 It is admitted that defendants were the record owners of the property in question, having secured their respective titles through warranty deeds. Plaintiff alleges possession of the property and claims title there to solely by virtue of tax deeds. As presented in the briefs, there is but one question submitted for the consideration of this court and that is whether or not the holder of a tax deed, though void, may secure a good and valid title by prescription by taking possession of the property and remaining in open, notorious, exclusive, and adverse possession thereof for a period of more than one year. Plaintiff contends that under the provisions of section 8554, C. O. S. 1921 (sec. 11729, O. S. 1931), and the provisions of section 9753, C. O. S. 1921 (sec. 12763, O. S. 1931), unless an action is begun by the owner of the land to recover possession thereof within one year from the date of recording the tax deed, the holder of said tax deed who is in possession of the land acquires title thereto by prescription under the authority of Stolfa v. Gaines, 140 Okla. 292, 283 P. 563. In that case the court was dealing with a guardianship sale and necessarily construed the statute of limitations dealing with guardianship sales and the minority of a ward. In this case we are dealing with a statute relating to tax deeds and are concerned only with the limitation expressly provided by said statute.

¶3 It is Conceded, in this case, that the tax deeds in question are absolutely void. It is settled by an unbroken line of decisions of this court that a tax deed void on its face, or void by reason of jurisdictional defects, does not set in operation the one-year statute of limitations, provided in section 9753, supra. In the case of Lind v. Stubblefield, 138 Okla. 280, 282...