SUSYE BELLE WELLS ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
JEFFERSON THOMAS ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. | 1956-04-18
THOMAS and THORNAL, JJ., and CRAWFORD, Associate Justice, concur., DREW, C. J., agrees to the conclusion., TERRELL and ROBERTS, JJ., dissent.
89 So. 2d 259 Florida Supreme Court (1956) Positive Treatment
Cited by 11 cases

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Synopsis

Wells challenges a summary judgment decree quieting title in favor of the Savage heirs, who claimed the tax deed under which Wells held title was invalid due to defective notice. The Florida Supreme Court affirms the invalidity of the tax deed as to the Savage heirs' property due to material misnomer in the notice, but reverses and remands regarding the improper breadth of the decree.


Holding

The tax deed was invalid as to the Savage heirs' property because the notice contained a material misnomer in stating the name of the assessment, violating statutory requirements and depriving the former owners of proper notice. However, the decree was overly broad in declaring the entire deed null and void and subject to expungement, as the evidence related only to the Savage property and not to other parcels covered by the same deed.


Key Quotes

“The notice itself being a jurisdictional requirement in such cases, Wells v. Thomas, supra, it would seem to follow necessarily that a material defect in such notice would make the proceeding subject to attack by those for whose protection the statute was enacted.”

Establishes that notice is jurisdictional and material defects make the tax deed proceeding subject to attack by former owners.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellants Wells claimed title to land under a tax deed. Appellees are heirs of W. T. Savage, a former owner of one parcel covered by the same tax dee…

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Opinion of the Court
O’CONNELL, Justice.

O’CONNELL, Justice.

The suit to quiet title out of which this appeal arose has been previously brought before this Court by the appellants, plaintiffs below, who successfully challenged an order on motion for summary judgment entered in favor of one defendant in the cause, F. Willard Hyslop. Wells v. Thomas, Fla., 78 So. 2d 378. The general factual background and nature of the controversy are fully disclosed in that opinion and need not be here detailed.

The summary decree which forms the basis for this appeal was entered for other defendants, the appellees, who are heirs of one W.

T. Savage, a former owner of one of the parcels of land involved in the proceeding, covered by the same tax deed as that of Hyslop. It was the opinion of the court below that the tax deed under which appellants claim title was subject to attack by appellees, former owners, and was invalid by reason of defective notice in the proceedings leading to its issuance. Although the documentary evidence upon which the decree is predicated is in most respects the same as that before the Court in the former appeal, the decree in this case rests in part upon a point not urged or considered in that proceeding, the sufficiency or accuracy of the contents of the notice allegedly given pursuant to applicable statutes, F.S. § 194.16,194.18, F.S.A. The statute relating to publication of notice of application for tax deed, Section 194.16, supra, provides that notice shall be in substantially the form specified, of which one requirement is that it shall state the name in which the property is assessed. The exhibits in this cause establish conclusively the fact that the property in question was assessed upon the tax rolls in the name of W.

T. Savage, but the notice of application for tax deed stated that “The assessment of the said property under the said certificate issued was in the name of ‘Unknown’ * * * ”

The notice itself being a jurisdictional requirement in such cases, Wells v. Thomas, supra, it would seem to follow necessarily that a material defect in such notice would make the proceeding subject to attack by those for whose protection the statute was enacted. Upon the precise point involved, a question of misnomer or error in stating the name in which the property is assessed, this Court in an earlier case concluded that “This was a material variance,1 and rendered the publication of the notice ineffectual for the purpose designed.” Hightower v. Hogan, 69 Fla. 86, 68 So. 669, 671. See also Sinclair v. Alford, Fla., 72 So. 2d 783. The ruling of the court in the case of Tindel v. Griffin, 157 Fla. 156, 25 So. 2d 200, being confined to a conclusion as a matter of pleading that the bill under consideration simply failed to allege th,at the notice did not contain the information required by the statutes, does not appear to infringe upon the above cited principle and cases.

It is apparent, therefore, that whatever might be our conclusion as to other matters upon which the decree was predicated, with reference to an alleged failure to comply with the statutory provision for mailing of notice, the decree for appellees should be sustained for the reason above stated.

The final point raised relates to the breadth of the decree entered, and the propriety of the court’s order that the appellants’ deed be declared null and void in its entirety and expunged from the public records. Such relief was manifestly beyond the scope of the issues presented by appel-lees’ motion for summary judgment and improper upon the record before the court, particularly in view of the fact that the evidence upon which he predicated his ruling related solely to the property claimed by appellees, or sufficiency of notice to them, and not to owners of other parcels covered by the same deed.

The decree appealed from should accordingly be affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the cause remanded for amendment of same to conform herewith.

It is so ordered.

THOMAS and THORNAL, JJ., and CRAWFORD, Associate Justice, concur. DREW, C. J., agrees to the conclusion.

TERRELL and ROBERTS, JJ., dissent.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Mirabella v. Kickliter, 113 So. 2d 397 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959)
    …d persons at specified addresses it will be presumed that he went further and mailed it to everyone else to whom he should have sent it. The mailing of this notice was jurisdictional, Heinberg v. Andress, Fla., 45 So. 2d 488, Wells v. Thomas, Fla., 89 So. 2d 259, and it was not mailed. So for a second reason the foundation of the tax deed was undermined. The conduct of appellee-Kickliter in dealing with the property which the appellant inherited from her father was reprehensible, and his testimony about hi…
  • Allstate Ins. Co. v. Arlyne Flickinger, 322 So. 2d 638 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975)
    …al judge to grant the partial summary judgment. Further, we are not passing upon the question of coverage for Trapini under the Allstate homeowner’s policy and that question may be further litigated in the trial court. See Wells v. Thomas, Fla.1956, 89 So. 2d 259; Seaview Awning Shutters v. E. M. Disfield Inc., Fla.App.1958, 106 So. 2d 597; 19 Fla.Jur. Judgments and Decrees, § 7; and 30 Fla. Jur., Summary Judgment, §§ 12 and 29. Therefore, for the reasons stated and upon the authorities cited, the partial su…
  • S. Fla. Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Nat Ratner, 357 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 3d DCA 1978)
    …nd the relief requested. A review of the record convinces us that the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, do not support the full extent of the relief granted. Cf. Wells v. Thomas, 89 So. 2d 259 (Fla.1956). [*1060] We have considered the other points raised by the parties and hold that none presents reversible error. We, therefore, affirm the judgment entered so far as it determines plaintiff’s rights to reasonable access, and the District…

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