CASES ADJUDGED IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES AT OCTOBER TERM, 1947. LE MAISTRE v. LEFFERS ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA. No. 362. Argued January 7, 1948.-Decided February 2, 1948. 1. Section 205 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended, tolls the running of the time granted under state law to redeem land sold or forfeited for taxes for so long as the owner was in military service after October 6, 1942, and gives him a period in which to redeem after his discharge equal to that portion of the state statutory period which did not run because it was suspended by this provision of the Federal Act. P. 3. 2. It is not limited to cases where the state law provides for transfer of title to a purchaser at a tax sale subject to defeasance by redemption, but applies as well to cases in which the tax sale results in the issuance of a certificate entitling the holder to apply for a tax deed after the lapse of a specified time. Pp. 3-4. 3. It applies to all kinds of land and is not limited by § 500 to "real property owned and occupied for dwelling, professional, business, or agricultural purposes." Pp. 4-6. 4. The Act must be read with an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country's call. P. 6. 159 Fla. 122, 31 So. 2d 155, reversed. The Supreme Court of Florida affirmed a judgment denying relief under § 205 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, as amended. 159 Fla. 122, 31 So. 2d 155. This Court granted certiorari. 332 U. S. 814. Reversed, p. 6. Opinion of the Court. 333 U.S. W. B. Shelby Crichlow and Dewey A. Dye argued the cause for petitioner. With them on the brief was Robert E. Willis. James Alfred Franklin argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief was R. A. Henderson, Jr. MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court. Section 205 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 1178, as amended, 56 Stat. 769, 770, 50 U. S. C. App. Supp. V, § 525, provides in part that no portion of the period of military service' which occurs after October 6, 1942, shall be included "in computing any period now or hereafter provided by any law for the redemption of real property sold or forfeited to enforce any obligation, tax, or assessment." 3 2 Petitioner owned land in Florida on which taxes became delinquent April 1, 1940. Under Florida statutory procedure the tax collector after notice sells the land at public sale and issues a tax certificate to the purchaser. At any time after two years from the date of the certificate the holder thereof may apply for a tax deed. Notice is given, a public sale is had, and a tax deed is issued. The owner may redeem the land at any time after issuance of the certificate and before issuance of the tax deed. 1 The term is defined in § 101 (2) of the Act as follows: "For persons in active service at the date of the approval of this Act it shall begin with the date of approval of this Act; for persons entering active service after the date of this Act, with the date of entering active service. It shall terminate with the date of discharge from active service or death while in active service, but in no case later than the date when this Act ceases to be in force." 2 That was the effective date of the amendment which added this provision to § 205. 3 Fla. Stats. cc. 193, 194 (1941). 1 Opinion of the Court. In accordance with this procedure a tax certificate on petitioner's lands was issued August 5, 1940. Petitioner was on active duty in the Navy from August 18, 1942, until his discharge on December 18, 1945. Application for a tax deed was made by one Conrod in January, 1943, and the deed issued to him on March 1, 1943. It is through him that respondents claim by mesne conveyances. Petitioner filed this suit in equity on March 25, 1946, seeking to set aside the tax deed by reason of § 205 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a judgment denying the relief, 159 Fla. 122, 31 So. 2d 155, on the authority of its earlier decision in De Loach v. Calihan, 158 Fla. 639, 30 So. 2d 910. The case is here on a petition for a writ of certiorari which we granted because the construction given to the federal Act seemed to us not only a dubious one but also at variance with Illinois Nat. Bank v. Gwinn, 390 Ill. 345, 61 N. E. 2d 249. Under Florida law petitioner concededly could have redeemed any time between August 5, 1940, when the certificate was issued, and March 1, 1943, when the tax deed was issued. The provision of the federal Act with which we are here concerned became effective during that period-October 6, 1942. At that time petitioner was in the Navy and at once became a beneficiary of it. That means that the running of the time granted him under Florida law to redeem was tolled as long as he was in the military service. Since he would have had from October 6, 1942, to March 1, 1943, to redeem, the effect of the Act was to give him the same length of time after his discharge for that purpose. His present action being timely, there is thus no barrier to his recovery so far as the Act is concerned. Two reasons, however, are advanced against it. First, it is argued that § 205 applies only where state law provides for transfer of title to the purchaser subject to de 776154 O-48- -6 |