Real v. County of Kern

SHAW, J.

In this action plaintiff sought to recover the sum of $1,440.82, which sum, in addition to accrued taxes, interest, costs, and penalties, he, in January, 1911, paid into the county treasury of Kern County as the purchase price of certain land then sold and conveyed to him by the state, title to which land it claimed to have acquired by reason of delinquency in the payment of taxes thereon for the fiscal year 1904 and proceedings thereafter had and taken pursuant to law.

Thereafter, in December, 1913, an action was instituted involving the validity of the deed so received by plaintiff, wherein it was, in November, 1916, adjudged that said deed was void as a conveyance of title to plaintiff and the samé ordered canceled and annulled. In January, 1917, plaintiff, in accordance with the provisions of section 3898 of the Political Code, as amended in 1913, presented to the board of supervisors a duly verified demand and claim for a refund of the amount so paid, which claim the board rejected. Defendant’s general demurrer to the complaint, wherein the above facts were set forth, was overruled, and in answering it defendant admitted the same, but alleged that plaintiff did not present his claim within three years after the making of the payment, by reason of which fact the cause of action was barred by the provisions of section 3804 of the Political Code.

The case was submitted without evidence and judgment rendered upon the pleadings for plaintiff, from which defendant appeals.

Subdivision 5, added to section 3898 of the Political Code, by amendment in 1913, among other things provides that if in an action at law the court determines a sale and conveyance by tax deed from the state to a purchaser void, by reason of which fact the property is not awarded to the party to whom the deed is made, “the said purchaser may also present a claim against the county, in the manner provided by law, for a refund of the amount paid in to the county

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treasury as the purchase price of such property in excess of the amount for which he may have been reimbursed for taxes, penalties, and costs as herein provided, and such excess shall be refunded in accordance with section 3804 of this code.” Section 3804 of the Political Code, among other things, provides: “No order for the refund of taxes, penalties or costs under this section shall be made except upon a verified claim therefor verified by the person who has paid said tax, . . . which said claim must be filed within three years after the making of the payment sought to be refunded.”