Court Opinion

ID: 9864456
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 13:10:25.09201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:11:54.272975
License: Public Domain

Ed. F. McFaddin, Justice (concurring). I agree with the opinion in case No. 8606; and concur in the result reached in case No. 8607. I cannot agree with some of the statements contained in the majority opinion in case No. 8607, which statements I regard as erroneous dicta; and the purpose of this concurrence is to register my views in that regard. In the latter portion of the opinion there is a paragraph beginning with these italicized words, “The Description, Frl. SEy± R.B.R.” -, and later there is another paragraph beginning with these italicized words, “Area Involved and Acreage Mentioned in Deed.” My concurrence has reference to those two paragraphs and the three intervening paragraphs. First, I will discuss the contents of these paragraphs as being (1) erroneous, and then I will discuss the contents as being (2) dicta. I. Erroneous. The majority say: “We also know that government tract books and surveyors’ field notes abound with the designations ‘L.B.R.’, and ‘R.B.R.’, and that no question of uncertainty arises where land and water proximities are such that reasonable, unskilled persons must of necessity know what was intended.” I seriously question the above statement, and venture the assertion that a majority of the lawyers and real estate men in Arkansas would never surmise that “L.B.R.” meant “left bank of the river.” It might just as well mean “lumber.” A person may search all of the library dictionaries, law dictionaries, encyclopedias and law texts, including Corpus Juris, American Jurisprudence and Words, and Phrases, and will not find “L.B. R.” listed as uniformly meaning “left bank of the river,” and “R.B.R.” as uniformly meaning right bank of the river.” I maintain that the letters “L.B.R.” and “R. B.R.” have no such generally recognized meaning as that ascribed by the majority.1  Furthermore, I think the majority opinion is at fatal variance with our holding in the case of Toler v. Fischer and Holmes, 201 Ark. 1107, 148 S. W. 2d 159, where we said: “Because of this inadequate and void description, the court below lacked the power to sell these lands for the road district taxes assessed against them. The lands were assessed, advertised, sold and confirmed under the following description: ‘R.B.R. S.E. Quarter of S.W. Quarter, Section 25, Twp. 18, R. 2 W. 25.88 acres,’ which, as indicated, was inadequate and void.” If “R.B.R.” was inadequate and void in Toler v. Fisher, then I cannot see how “R.B.R.” should suddenly become a good and sufficient description in the case at bar. In Simms v. Rolfe, 177 Ark. 52, 5 S. W. 2d 718, the description of the property sold at the tax sale was: “W of R NEi4> Sec. 8, Twp. 5 North, range 4 east”; and we held the sale.void “for lack of a legal description.” We said: “The letter ‘R’ or ‘r’ in the description before us could as well refer to ridge or road as river, or any natural or artificial monument, . . .” Likewise, in both appeals in Brinkley v. Halliburton, 129 Ark. 334, 196 S. W. 118, 1 A. L. R. 1225, and 135 Ark. 592, 204 S. W. 213, we held as bad this description: “N of RR. Frl. SW%, Sec. 26, T. 6 N., R. 7 E, 125 acres.” We said in both appeals: “The abbreviation ‘RR’ is not an abbreviation commonly used to designate government subdivisions. Government surveys were not made with reference to railroads. The abbreviation ‘RR’ does not necessarily convey the meaning of railroad to one of only ordinary experience in land titles . . . the letters could have reference to Ridge Road or River Road. It might refer to any natural or artificial monument where such letters were used in spelling the monument in mind.” As with “R” in Simms v. Rolfe, and as with “RR” in Halliburton v. Brinkley, so with “L.B.R.” and “R.B. R.” in the case at bar: the letters might stand for a variety of meanings, and thus do not mean one definite tract of land, which is the essential requirement in tax descriptions. In short, I consider as erroneous all that portion of the majority opinion which says that “L.B. R.” and “R.B.R.” are definite terms descriptive of land in tax proceedings. II. Biota. But the foregoing error is dicta in this case, where tax payments are concerned, rather than a tax sale. In the case at bar the land was legally described in the tax sale and tax deed to Burbridge as: “Fractional Southeast Quarter, Sec. 23, Twp. 12 S, R 9 W, 132 acres.” This was a good, sufficient and legal description, and in this respect, the case at bar is different from those previously cited in this concurring opinion. Furthermore, Burbridge, holding under such deed, paid the taxes for more than 7 consecutive years on all of the land in the fractional southeast quarter of said section 23. In these tax receipts the collector described the lands as “Frl. SE% R.B.R. Sec. 23” or “R.B.R. Frl. SEy4, Sec. 23.” In 2 C. J. 209, in discussing effect of misdescription in tax receipts, this statement appears: “One who, under color of title acquired in good faith, has paid the taxes actually assessed against land is entitled to the benefit of the statute, notwithstanding the land may have been misdescribed in the tax receipts, provided he is able to remove the uncertainty by extrinsic evidence.” And in 2- O. J. S. 749 this statement appears: “ . . . if claimant pays the taxes on the land actually claimed, the fact that the land was misdescribed in the assessment or in the tax receipts is immaterial.” In the case at bar Burbridge — for more than 7 years —paid the taxes on all of the lands in .the frl. SE14 of 'Sec. 23, and such description appears on the tax receipts (which fact distinguishes this case from Boynton v. Ashabranner, 75 Ark. 415, 88 S. W. 566, 1011, 91 S. W. 20; but in Burbridge’s receipts there were the letters “R.B.R.”, as previously mentioned. Since, these letters are meaningless — as previously stated — we may disregard them as surplusage; and the result is that Bur-bridge held under a tax sale and deed validly and legally describing the land, and for more than 7 years paid the taxes on all of the lands in the Frl. SE1/^ of said Sec. 23. The result is, that he is entitled to the benefits of § 8920, Pope’s Digest. Therefore, I concur in the result reached by the majority in case No. 8607, because I consider the statements in the majority opinion about “R.B.R.” and “L.B.R.” to be dicta, and I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice Frank Gr. Smith and Mr. Justice Minor W. Millwee join me in this concurrence.