Payne v. Williams

Plaintiffs filed a suit to quiet title, contending that they are the owners in fee of the mineral estate situated in Franklin County underlying a 40-acre tract of real estate. Defendants’ answer raised two affirmative defenses: (1) that the tax deeds supporting plaintiffs’ claim were void as a matter of law because the parties interested in the estate at the time of the tax sales did not receive notice of the sales; and (2) that the tax deeds were procured by means of the filing of fraudulent affidavits. Defendants, with the exception of Coyne and Lee Gambill, filed a counterclaim seeking to…