She got $0 from condo sale. Supreme Court weighs fairness

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-just-compensation-tax-sales-minneapolis-45d19359249669f7b75da32ac352d4c2

She got $0 from condo sale. Supreme Court weighs fairness
By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Geraldine Tyler, now 94, lost her one-bedroom condo in Minneapolis over $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties. Hennepin County sold the apartment for $40,000 and kept every penny.

Tyler’s lawyers say the county violated constitutional protections against having property taken without “just compensation” and excessive fines. The Supreme Court, which hears arguments Wednesday, will decide.

Minnesota is among roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia that allow local jurisdictions to keep the excess money, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Tyler at the Supreme Court.

At least 8,950 homes were sold because of unpaid taxes and the former owners received little or nothing in those states between 2014 and 2021, according to Pacific Legal, a not-for-profit public interest law firm focused on property rights.

Other states are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and South Dakota, the group said.

...

[bucolic_frolic]

1. This has never been challenged in Federal court before?

Hard to believe. Confiscatory policies are such an outrage.

[jimfields33]

2. I'm surprised that deep blue states would do this especially Massachusetts

And Washington DC is a surprise too.

[mucifer]

3. Lots of bad policies do happen in blue states . Google Illinois Michael Madigan

[jimfields33]

19. Hopefully they will fix it now that it on the radar.

[mountain grammy]

7. and Colorado...

sickening. Should have been addressed a long time ago.

[colorado_ufo]

16. Yes, an outrage!

Also, it is distressing that they would do this to a 94-year-old woman who was fortunate enough to still be living on her own. Especially for a paltry $2300.

[question everything]

20. It has and rejected. Conservatives to the rescue

From an earlier editorial of the StarTribune

Tyler's case was dismissed in federal district court, and an appellate court upheld that ruling, affirming that Minnesota could legally redefine Tyler's private home as public property, allowing the government to keep the excess value.

Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that specializes in "individual and economic liberty," is representing Tyler pro bono.

At the time of that decision, Christina Martin, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, commented, "We believe that Hennepin County violated Ms. Tyler's rights by taking a huge windfall at her expense." The foundation noted in its 2022 report that 12 states and Washington, D.C., allow local governments to take more than the amount they are owed in back taxes. Based on a review of property tax records, Pacific Legal contends that from 2014 to 2020, an estimated 1,200 Minnesotans lost their homes and all equity for debts that averaged 8% of the homes' value.

(snip)

The effort by counties to collect delinquent taxes can be prolonged. Dan Rogan, assistant county administrator for resident services, responded to a Star Tribune reporter's questions in a recent email, nothing that "when a property owner fails to pay taxes and does not avail herself of the numerous ways to remedy the deficiency — including selling the property, using the sales proceeds to pay the tax and keeping any surplus — the state's retention of the surplus is not an unconstitutional taking nor is it an excessive fine." Rogan in other statements to media noted that property owners are given three years to resolve unpaid taxes.

The county's practice may well be constitutional. That will be for the Supreme Court to decide. But there is another question here. Is it right? Is it fair dealing with someone so hard up that they can't pay taxes to take all the equity in their home, far in excess of what they owed?

https://www.startribune.com/heartless-state-law-headed-to-high-court/600246525/

[bucolic_frolic]

21. States routinely retain unclaimed assets in escrow for owners IN PERPETUITY

After 6 or 7 years, unclaimed property is escheated to the state which sells the asset and places the money in escrow for claims of owners and heirs against it. The monies typically earn no interest. But by no means, and this is continuing ongoing principle of many decades' duration, does the state own or seize the property. The state may list it in aggregate on its books as an asset, but it can't be disbursed except to rightful owners and heirs.

So this angle is some pushback against the total seizure policy.

[TheBlackAdder]

4. Half the time those auctions are filled with cronies that run a relatively closed market.

.

Instead of posting the sale through a realtor and run through MLS for a month or two, as with most real estate transactions, many of these sales are poorly advertised and ensure low-ball bids by a select group of bidders.

.

[mopinko]

5. most def like that in cook co.

after 5 yrs on not paying, property goes on the scavenger sale. i’ve seen huge apt buildings sold for a few hundred bucks. of course, they needed millions. but there used to be a handful of folks that made it a business.
it’s funny, cuz foreclosures work completely differently.

[RSherman]

6. In the words of Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story

I just heard this story on NPR. Geraldine had moved out of the condo and into assisted living, at the urging of her family. She just stopped paying taxes, HOA fees, and the mortgage.

The county asserts that Tyler had no equity in the home at the time of the forfeiture because she owed $48,000 on her mortgage and more than $11,000 in homeowner's association fees, (plus the taxes).


https://www.npr.org/2023/04/26/1170667154/grandma-didnt-pay-taxes-now-her-house-is-focus-of-property-rights-test-case

[sl8]

9. Thanks for the additional info. nt

[NullTuples]

10. Thanks - That makes me ask why the case was allowed to go this far then?

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. Seem like the mortgage lender would have taken possession of the home

Lots of unexplained details here.

[Oppaloopa]

12. Here in Florida the assisted living facility take the home for the funds to get her in

[Farmer-Rick]

13. Funny that this one is being challenged

I know of several people who lost their homes because of unpaid back taxes on their paid for properties. Stories of that happening are all over the internet and usually involve an elderly person.

But if you have a mortgage, taxes and insurance are taken out of escrow. My bank got confused and failed to pay taxes one year. They sent it to the wrong department. I got a notice from the County Clerk. But it was fixed pretty quickly.

Local property taxes just keep going up and up, yet GQPers want to stop estate taxes on the filthy rich?

[Sympthsical]

14. My mom did similar

My parents were not great at finances. Never had been. When my father died, their mortgage was a whole thing. She didn't want the house - it was far too much upkeep. A family realtor friend told her, "Just stop paying. Save up a year's worth of mortgage and taxes, and let the bank take it. It takes them at least a year to process the entire situation." And if her credit gets wrecked, what does she care? She's in her 80s and has two sons with good credit who will manage whatever she needs. She has social security and various pension things.

So that's more or less exactly what she did. Walked away from the house and moved into a two bedroom place in a senior living community.

As far as I know, she got nothing. The bank took it, fixed it up, and sold it. There was no real equity in the place to speak of.

She was pretty happy with how it all turned out. My brother and I have our own homes, so we didn't care what happened to it.

This story poses an interesting legal question. However, I'm kind of with the county on this one. She functionally gave up on the property, and the county had to come in and deal with the whole thing. Not only did she walk away from it, but she then expected taxpayers to foot the bill for the entire situation.

The Tawana Hall story in the article bothers me a lot more. I've heard a lot of stories like that before. The recent John Oliver segment on Homeowner's Associations touches on this as well.

[dawg]

15. Then the mortgage lender should have had priority after the taxes were paid.

I know banks aren't popular here, but they serve a vital purpose, and it sounds to me as if the state straight-up stole from them.

[colorado_ufo]

17. Important information, thank you!

[obnoxiousdrunk]

18. Thanks !

[swimboy]

8. Bracing myself

as I wait for Chief Justice Roberts’ cheap shots and mockery at the expense of this woman.

[Kid Berwyn]

22. John Roberts the guy with the really rich wife.

Her headhunter firm specializes in finding positions for attorneys doing business with the highest courts in the realm I mean land.

“They come to me.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/31/jane-roberts-legal-recruiting-work-agencies-cases-supreme-court-00080515