Texas Attorney General Opinion: O-5491 Page: 3 of 5
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Hon. C. Woodrow Laughlin, page 3 (0-5491)
any irrigable land authorized by law to be made for water improvement
districts, or water control and improvement districts, the collection of
said assessments or the liens securing the same would not be prejudiced
by said judgment.
But it is obvious that the provisions of said Article 7345b
are not applicable to the judgment inquired about by you, for the reason
that said article was not in force at the time said judgment was obtained.
It is elementary that a judgment is only binding on those who are parties
to the suit in which the judgment was rendered. Insomuch as an inspec-
tion of the copy of the judgment which you sent us discloses that no tax-
ing units other than the State and county were parties to the suit in ques-
tion, you are advised that any taxing unit other than the State and county
would not be bound by said judgment; their rights would not be affected
thereby, and any tax liens subsisting in their favor at the time of the
judgment would not be extinguished by the force of said judgment.
Article 7336f, Sec. 1, was enacted in 1935 by the 44th Leg-
islature, and is as follows:
"The collection of all delinquent, ad valorem taxes
due the State, county, municipality or other defined subdi-
visions that were delinquent prior to Dec. 3 1, 1919, is for-
ever barred."
By reason of the foregoing quoted statute, we need to con-
sider in this opinion only the effect of the instant judgment on such taxes
as have become delinquent since Dec. 31, 1919, as the collection of those
which became delinquent before that date is "forever barred."
Writing upon the quality of title acquired by a purchaser at
a tax foreclosure sale, Texas Jurisprudence has this to say:
"Referring to the title acquired by purchaser at a
tax foreclosure sale, the statutes provide, that when the
land has been paid for, the sheriff shall execute a deed
'canveying title', and that 'such:deed shall be held in any
court of Law or equity in this State -to vest good and per-
fect title in the purchaser thereof, subject to be impeached
only for actual fraud.' Therefore, and seeing that the fore-
closure proceeding is a suit in rem, it has been held that
if all parties having an interest in the land were joined as
defendants an estate in fee simple passes to the purchaser
free from any lien for taxes for the taxing years prior to
those for which foreclosure was decreed, in the absence
of any reservation of such lien in the judgment of foreclo-
sure - subject, however, to the rights of any persons who
had some interest and therefore should have been implead-
ed as parties in the tax foreclosure suit." (40 Tex. Jur.
307-308, Section 229, citing Ball v. Carroll, 92 S.W. 1023,
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: O-5491, text, 1943; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth262765/m1/3/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.