Scavone v. Davis.
| Decision Date | 15 February 1946 |
| Citation | 45 A.2d 787 |
| Parties | SCAVONE v. DAVIS. |
| Court | Maine Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Report from Superior Court, Kennebec County.
Writ of entry by Vincent Scavone against Leon M. Davis to recover a lot and building thereon, to which defendant claimed title under a tax deed. On report.
Judgment for plaintiff, and case returned to the Superior Court for appropriate docket entries.
Harvey D. Eaton, of Waterville, for plaintiff.
F. Harold Dubord, of Waterville, for defendant.
Before STURGIS, C. J., and THAXTER, HUDSON, MANSER, MURCHIE, and TOMPKINS, JJ.
This case comes forward on report. The plaintiff, by writ of entry, seeks to recover a lot of land with building thereon, to which title is claimed by the defendant under a deed from the inhabitants of the town of Rome. The deed was one of quitclaim and the basis of title rests upon proceedings taken by the town to enforce the tax lien law, so-called P.L.1933, c. 244, as amended, now R.S. c. 81, § 97 et seq. The tax which laid the foundation for the lien was assessed against the property in 1941. The aggregate amount of the tax on the real estate, the land and buildings having been properly valued separately, amounted to $55.20. There was also a tax on personal property,-apparently a boat,-of $1.20. A lien certificate was filed in the registry of deeds on May 29, 1942.
While the tax lien law applicable to real estate has simplified enforcement procedures, yet the principle still obtains that there must be strict compliance with statutory requirements to divest property owners of their titles for non-payment of taxes. Inhabitants of Town of Warren v. Norwood, 138 Me. 180, 24 A.2d 229.
The plaintiff asserted several claims as to the invalidity of the assessment, and of insufficiencies in the tax lien certificate, which appear of little, if any, legal merit. It is, however, unnecessary to consider them with the meticulous care which otherwise might be required, because there is one outstanding element which destroys the validity of the tax lien certificate, and the basis of the defendant's title. R.S.1930, c. 13, § 3, now R.S.1944, c. 81, § 3, provides: ‘There shall be a lien to secure the taxes legally assessed on real estate as described in this section, which shall take precedence of all other claims on said real estate and interests * * *’.
Under our law there is no lien on real estate for the enforcement of payment of personal property taxes. A man's real estate cannot be forfeited by lien process to enforce collection of a tax on personal property. Yet it indubitably appears that the Tax Collector combined the real estate tax of $55.20 and the...
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City of Auburn v. Mandarelli
...v. Moulton, 1909, 106 Me. 174, 76 A. 283; Inhabitants of the Town of Warren v. Norwood, 1941, 138 Me. 180, 24 A.2d 229; Scavone v. Davis, 1946, 142 Me. 45, 45 A.2d 787; Arsenault v. Inhabitants of Town of Roxbury, 1971, Me., 275 A.2d 598. Since the plaintiff's ostensible title would be a nu......
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United States v. Town of Pittsfield
...made so by statute and that tax liens are not to be created or enlarged by implication or by judicial construction. Scavone v. Davis, 142 Me. 45, 45 A.2d 787 (1946); Cassidy v. Aroostook Hotels, Inc., 134 Me. 341, 186 A. 665 (1936); City of Richmond v. Bird, 249 U.S. 174, 39 S.Ct. 186, 63 L......
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Inhabitants of Town of Lincolnville v. Perry
... ... Town of Warren v. Norwood, 138 Me. 180, 24 A.2d 229. See Scavone v. Davis, 142 Me. 45, 45 A.2d 787. In July, 1952, however, defendant tax payer brought a bill in equity against plaintiff town and its selectmen, in ... ...
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