(DOWNLOAD) "Yellowstone County v. Wight" by Supreme Court of Montana ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Yellowstone County v. Wight
- Author : Supreme Court of Montana
- Release Date : January 24, 1943
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 76 KB
Description
Counties ? Quieting Title to Lands sold on Installments ? Failure to Pay ? County declaring Contract Cancelled ? Forfeiture ? Relief Held erroneously Denied ? Statutes and Statutory Construction. Forfeitures ? Legislative Intent in Enacting Section 8658, Revised Codes ? Courts Abhor Forfeitures. 1. The intention of the legislature in enacting section 8658, Revised Codes, declaring that a party who incurs a forfeiture by reason of his failure to comply with the terms of an obligation may be relieved therefrom in any case upon making full compensation to the other party, except in case of a grossly negligent, wilful or fraudulent breach of duty, was that it should be given full force and effect and be operative in any case when the circumstances make it applicable, the rule being declared by courts generally, both at law and in equity, that forfeitures are abhorred. Counties ? Quieting Title to County-owned Land sold on Installment Contract ? Vendee Defaulting in Payments ? Cancellation of Contract ? Defendant Praying for Relief against Forfeiture ? Held that Trial Court erred in Denying Relief ? Reasons. 2. Where a vendee of county-owned property, sold to him in November, 1934, under a contract making time of the essence thereof and requiring him to pay the purchase price, $1,920, in four annual installments, together with the taxes thereon, and in 1940 he had paid but $860 on the principal and no taxes whatever, he in the meantime having put valuable improvements on the land, when the board of county commissioners on July 30, 1940, notified him of its intention to cancel the contract unless payment were made by August 31; having failed to make payment, the board declared vendees rights forfeited. Held, in an action by the county to quiet title in which the vendee in effect asked for relief against the forfeiture, that in view of economic conditions which made it difficult for the average person to obtain loans, and in the absence of circumstances which would have rendered relief inequitable, and in view of the fact that defendant at the trial made a tender of the full amount of delinquent payments, interest and taxes which would have made the county whole if accepted, the trial court erred in denying relief from forfeiture. Same ? Time limit of Five years completing Payment of Installments of Purchase Price of Land ? Construction of Code Sections. 3. Sections 2235 and 4461.9, Revised Codes, providing that deferred payments on contracts of county-owned lands may not extend over a period of more than five years, held not open to the construction that at the end of the five-year period the property rights of the vendee shall be lost if the purchase price has not all been paid, but that if there still remain a part of the purchase price unpaid and the vendee offers payment the county may accept it without violating the provisions of the sections. Same ? Automatic Cancellation of Land Contract upon Failure to Make Payments ? Court of Equity still has Power to Relief against Forfeiture. 4. The provision of section 2208.1, Revised Codes, relating to disposal of tax title property held by counties, that if any tax delinquency occurs in respect to land sold on installment contracts, failure to pay the tax shall automatically cancel the contract, does not deprive a court of equity of the power to grant relief against a resulting forfeiture. - Page 413 Same ? Section 2208.1, Revised Codes, if Treated as Tax Collecting Measure held Void as Class Legislation in Declaring land Contracts automatically Cancelled without allowing Redemption Period. 5. Treating section 2208.1, supra, as a tax collecting measure, it in declaring land contracts payable in installments automatically cancelled on failure to pay any tax, without allowing a redemption period, is void as class legislation, since it singles out a class of property owners to be dealt with more harshly than all others.
 "Yellowstone County v. Wight" by Supreme Court of Montana ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}