D.C. Attorney General sues Express Homebuyers for allegedly sending over 100,000 District homeowners false notifications about overdue property taxes, risk of foreclosure, and misrepresenting the tax lien sale process to “drum up business.”
By: Aja Beckham
D.C. Attorney General filed a complaint against Express Homebuyers, a real estate investment company, for allegedly mass mailing over 100,000 District homeowners notices about overdue property taxes and risks of foreclosure and “grossly misrepresenting the D.C. tax lien sale process to create a false sense of urgency for its services,” per the complaint.
“Express Homebuyers sent letters to hundred of thousands of District residents about delinquent taxes, but a vast majority, over 99 percent, did not owe any delinquent taxes, despite these letters falsely claiming that they did,” says Benjamin Wiseman, director of the office of consumer protection public advocacy division.
The letter header reads: “County records indicate you owe past due property taxes. Let us help. If you do nothing, the county can take your property and auction it for a tiny fraction of its value.”
Wiseman says homeowners may have a “false sense of urgency” and sell homes at below market value due to a “mistaken belief that the property could be subject to foreclosure or taken from them.”
The letters were distributed widely throughout all areas in the District, says Wiseman.
Express Homebuyers, based in Springfield, Virginia and operating in 27...
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