Case Name: A. C. Gibson, and Charles E. Bruce, County Clerk, v. R. B. Greene
Court: Kansas Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Kansas
Decision Date: 1897-12-18
Citations: 6 Kan. App. 196
Docket Number: No. 527
Parties: A. C. Gibson, and Charles E. Bruce, County Clerk, v. R. B. Greene.
Judges: McElroy, J., concurring.
Reporter: Reports of cases decided in the Courts of Appeals of the state of Kansas
Volume: 6
Pages: 196–202

Head Matter:
A. C. Gibson, and Charles E. Bruce, County Clerk, v. R. B. Greene.
No. 527.
1. Junior Mortgagee — acquiring legal title and possession, tax lien already held by him merges, and taxes afterward paid constitute no lien. The holder of a third mortgage buys a tax-sale certificate on the mortgaged property; afterwards the second mortgage is foreclosed and he becomes the purchaser of the property at a sheriff’s sale, subject to the lien of the first mortgage, and goes into possession and enjoys the rents, issues and profits thereof; afterward the first mortgage is foreclosed, and his title under his sheriff’s deed is destroyed. Held, that, when the the third mortgagee became the purchaser under the sheriff’s deed, he acquired the legal title to the land, and it was then his duty to redeem the same from all outstanding tax liens, and those held by him merged in his superior title.
2. Presumption on Appeal — assignment appearing to have been made, presumed made at such time as will sustain ¡judgment. Where an assignment appears to have been made, but the date thereof does not appear, this court will presume that the evidence showed that the same was made at the time necessary to sustain the judgment of the court below.
Error from Wyandotte District Court. Hon. Henry L, Alden, Judge.
Opinion filed December 18, 1897.
Affirmed.
Three mortgages were outstanding, held by different persons, on certain lots in Kansas City, Kan. Henton Gordon was the holder of the third mortgage. The second mortgagee brought suit to foreclose his mortgage, and, under an order of sale issued in that action, the lots were sold to Gordon, the third mortgagee, subject to the lien of the first mortgage. At the time of this sale, Gordon already held tax certificates for taxes paid on the lots. After his purchase at the sheriff’s sale, Gordon went into possession of the lots and received the rents, issues and profits thereof. The tax certificates show indorsements evidencing the payment of taxes by their holder for a time subsequent to this taking of possession by Gordon. Gordon assigned the certificates to one Gibson, a plaintiff in error, but the date of the assignment does not appear in the record. The first mortgagee subsequently foreclosed his mortgage, and, under an order of sale issued in that action, the lots were sold to Greene, the defendant in error. Part of the proceeds of this sale was turned over to Gordon to apply on his mortgage. Afterwards the collector of taxes of Wyandotte County made public advertisement that, unless the lots were duly redeemed before a certain date, from the lien of the certificates before referred to, deeds would be made to the holder thereof. Greene then brought this action to enjoin Gibson, the holder of the. certificates, from receiving, and Bruce, the county clerk, from making, such tax deeds, on the ground that, when Gordon became the owner of the legal title to the lots, the tax liens already held by him merged in his superior title, and that the payment of subsequent taxes by him was but in the line of his legal duty and could create no lien against the land. Gibson made default. The court below sustained this view of the law and granted the injunction. From this judgment, the case is brought to this court, upon a petition in error and a transcript, the question for consideration being the sufficiency of the petition to support the judgment.
Thomas J. White, for plaintiffs in error.
Wheeler & Switzer, for defendant in error.

Opinion:
Wells, J.
In this case there appears a motion to dismiss the proceedings in error, for the reason that the record does not show that the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of one hundred dollars, and contains no certificate of the trial judge that the cause belongs to one of the excepted cases; but as both of these defects have been cured by evidence and amendment, the motion will be overruled, and we will consider the merits of the petition in error.
Under the petition, the case can be summarized as follows : The holder of a third mortgage buys a tax-sale certificate on the property mortgaged; on the foreclosure of the second mortgage he buys the legal title to the lands, subject to the lien of the first mortgage. He is now the owner of the lands in fee, subject only to the first mortgage ; he is in possession and entitled to the rents, issues and profits thereof, and is in duty bound to pay the taxes thereon. The tax liens he has formerly acquired merge in his superior title, and in paying subsequent taxes he performs his legal duty and acquires no lien superior to the title he holds under such sale, as there is none. Keith v. Keith, 26 Kan. 26; Leppo v. Gilbert & Gay, 26 id. 138; Black on Tax Titles, § 279, and cases cited.
If the tax-sale certificate had been transferred by him prior to his purchase of the legal title, the purchaser would have acquired a good title thereto, and the purchaser's lien would have been a first lien on the property; but we cannot presume this to have been done. We may presume, to support the judgment, that the contrary, if allowable under the petition, as we think it was, was proven. If a motion to make the petition more definite and certain by setting up the date of the transfer, hacl been made, it must have been required ; but, in the absence of such a motion, it was competent for the court to receive evidence on that subject, and it will be presumed that the evidence supported the judgment.
Under paragraph 6902, General Statutes of 1889, Mr. Gordon had the right to demand that the taxes be paid out of the proceeds of the sale, before applying them to the amount due on the second mortgage; but failing to do this, he cannot now complain. The judgment of the court below will be affirmed.
McElroy, J., concurring.