Article 3. Cancellation Of Assessments On Public Lands On Application Of Property Owner of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 1. >> Part 9. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 3.

As used in this article, "public land" means:
  (a) The possession of, claim to, or right to the possession of land belonging to the United States.
  (b) Land on which final payment had not been made to the United States at the time of assessment.
  (c) Land sold by this State on which the full purchase price has not been paid.

If any public land is heretofore or hereafter assessed and the taxes are not paid, the board of supervisors shall order the auditor to cancel the assessment if:
  (a) Verified application is made by the owner of the land, and
  (b) The applicant files with the board of supervisors a certificate of the Register of the United States Lands Office, or of the State Lands Commission, showing that the assessee or his successor in interest never received a patent or otherwise acquired title to the land.

This article does not apply if the assessee of the public land, after the assessment:
  (a) Obtained from the United States or this State a patent or the absolute title to the land.
  (b) Retains any interest in the land.
  (c) Has been in possession of the land.

A cancellation of assessment under this article does not relieve any person or his successor in interest from paying taxes on the property for the full time he had the possession of the property, no matter in whose name the property was assessed, nor does it give the assessee any rights he would not have had if the assessment had not been canceled.