Review of summary judgment for plaintiff. A county that acquires title in a tax foreclosure sale takes title subject to servitudes. A county that acquires title in a tax foreclosure sale takes title subject to servitudes.
Servitudes are neither liens nor encumbrances as the term is used in the statute.
Encumbrances relate to only claims for money or security interest in the servient estate. If a tax foreclosure extinguished servitudes of the dominant estate, it would arguably infringe on the constitutional rights of the owners of the dominant estate and on the rights of the other owners in the same subdivision. The court here considered public policy in reaching its decision. The expectations of the homeowners would be defeated by extinguishing the servitudes. The value of the entire subdivision would be seriously impaired if the burden of a covenant regarding the use of the land were extinguished by a tax sale.