Warden v. Ratterree

WASTE, C. J.

This is an appeal by the plaintiff from a judgment entered in favor of the defendant McShea in an action to quiet title. The other defendants either filed disclaimers or the action was dismissed as to them. Plaintiff claims title through a deed of the treasurer of the city of Los Angeles, the deed having been given in pursuance of a sale of the property under the Street Improvement Bond Act of 1893 as amended (Deering’s Gen. Laws, 1923, Act 8208), for failure of the owner to pay a delinquent bond issued on an unpaid assessment. The defendant McShea, as owner of the property, contested plaintiff’s title on the ground the sale proceedings were defective and the resulting deed consequently invalid. The trial court made a general finding that plaintiff’s deed is void, and accordingly gave judgment for defendant for his costs.

In support of his contention respondent points out: (1) That the notice of sale called for a sale at “10 o’clock a. m.” on May 27, 1925, whereas the certificate of sale and the deed thereafter issued state that the property was sold to the plaintiff on said date “between the hours of 10 a. m. and 3 p. m.”; (2) that the date of the bond is not set forth in the treasurer’s sale book as required by subdivision “£” of section 5 of the act; (3) that there is a variance between the deed, the treasurer’s sale book and the certificate of sale regarding the cost of the certificate, the former reciting that the plaintiff bid in the property for $69.70, “including fifty cents for certificate of sale”, whereas the latter two indicate that the property was purchased by the plaintiff for $69.70, including

one dollar

for the certificate of sale; (4) that the certificate of sale improperly states that the property was assessed to an “unknown owner”, whereas the evidence shows that the treasurer had knowledge of defendant’s ownership of the property and of his address; and (5) that the notice to redeem erroneously recites the amount due as of the

date

of the notice and not as of the time of the

[217]

posting

thereof, as required by subdivision “j” of section 5 of the act.