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138 Mich. 413

Rumsey v. Griffin

Michigan Supreme Court

Decided December 7, 1904

Michigan Supreme Court · decided 1904-12-07

Petition by Chauncey J. Rumsey against Albert A. Griffin and Perry P. Powers, auditor general, for leave to file a bill of review. Prom a decree dismissing the petition, petitioner appeals. Petitioner’s land was sold at the annual tax sale in 1902, purchased by the State, and by the State sold to defendant Griffin. Petitioner filed his petition in the circuit court asking leave to file a bill of review.

Relies on Spaulding v. O'Connor · Berkey v. Burchard · Burns v. Ford

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1904-12-07

How this case has been cited

Cited by 9 later decisions — most recently January 1943

9 state decisions

4019041910192019301940decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Grant, J.

¶1(after stating the facts). Counsel, in his printed brief, raises two objections to the validity of the tax deed: (1) That the auditor general is not authorized by law to include in his petition delinquent drain taxes; (2) that the auditor general had no power to set aside the first sale on account of a defect in the publication, and to resell the land.

¶2The first objection is settled against the contention of the petitioner by Blondin v. Griffin, 133 Mich. 647Hilton v. Dumphey, 113 Mich. 341. The second question is ruled against him by Schulte v. Auditor General, 131 Mich. 677; Bump v. Jepson, 106 Mich. 644.

¶3We have repeatedly held that, after confirmation of the decree, tax sales and deeds issued thereunder can be set aside for only three reasons, two of which are specified in the statute—that the taxes were paid, or the land was exempt from taxation. The third is lack of jurisdiction to enter the decree. Burns v. Ford, 124 Mich. 274; Berkey v. Burchard, 119 Mich. 101; Spaulding v. O'Connor, 119 Mich. 45.

¶4There is no claim that the taxes were paid, or that the land was exempt. The court had jurisdiction to determine all the questions raised. It did determine them, entered decree, the lands have been sold, and the title of the State has passed to a third person. It follows that leave to file a bill of review was properly refused.

¶5Decree affirmed, with costs.

The other Justices concurred.
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