The plaintiffs entered into a contract to sell the property at issue to a buyer in 1989. The buyer paid the full amount, but the sellers never recorded a “satisfaction of contract” or issued a deed to the buyer. In 2007, the defendants bought the property at a tax sale and were issued a “tax sale certificate.” In 2009, the current possessors were notified of their right to redeem, but the plaintiffs were never notified. Thus, the county treasurer issued a tax deed to the defendants in 2009. Upon learning of this, the plaintiffs filed an action to set aside the tax deed. The trial court ruled, simply, that the plaintiffs were the owners of record and were not served notice of their statutory right to redeem in accordance with Iowa Code §447.9 or §448.15. Thus, the court voided the tax deed.
The defendants appealed and the Iowa Supreme Court gave the case to the Iowa Court of Appeals to determine whether the appeal was interlocutory or whether it should be dismissed as untimely. An interlocutory appeal is an appeal of a ruling of the trial court before the trial court proceedings have concluded. Generally, these appeals are prohibited to promote judicial economy, but courts do make exceptions for decisions that may be prejudicial to the rights of one of the parties. Here, the appellate court determined that this was, indeed, an interlocutory appeal. Thus, the court was tasked with deciding whether or not to grant an exception and hear the appeal. Not surprisingly, the court denied the interlocutory appeal stating that “piecemeal appeals often contribute little more to the judicial process than additional expense and delay.” Billingsley, et al. v. Frank, et al., No. 1-505/10-2051, 2011 Iowa App. LEXIS 737 (Iowa Ct. App. Jul. 27, 2011).