Opinion ID: 1833099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Ottaco's Failure to Submit Original Tax Certificate

Text: Sigma next argues that Ottaco failed to submit the original tax certificate to the treasurer as required by § 77-1837. Section 77-1837 provided in part that if real property has not been redeemed, the county treasurer, on request, on production of the certificate of purchase, and upon compliance with the provisions of sections 77-1801 to 77-1837, shall execute and deliver to the purchaser . . . a deed of conveyance for the real estate described in such certificate. As early as 1884, this court stated that the presentation of the tax certificate is a condition precedent to the execution of the tax deed and unless a tax certificate is presented to the county treasurer, the treasurer has no authority to execute a tax deed. [19] In other words, the law makes the return of the certificate the evidence upon which the treasurer has authority to act. [20] In this case, Ottaco did not return the original tax certificate to the treasurer because the original tax certificate was already in the treasurer's possession. Instead, Ottaco presented the treasurer with a copy of the tax certificate. As indicated by this court in Thompson v. Merriam, [21] the presented tax certificate is the evidence upon which the treasurer has authority to issue a tax deed. Where the original tax certificate is in the possession of the treasurer, we conclude that the holder of the certificate is not obligated to undertake the formalistic procedure of requesting the return of the original tax certificate only to present the tax certificate back to the treasurer.