WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of a 94-year-old Minnesota woman who fell behind in her property taxes, then had her home confiscated by local authorities. It's one of the eight new cases added to the court's docket.
Hennepin County sold Geraldine Tyler's home for $40,000 as payment for approximately $15,000 in property taxes, penalties, interest and costs. But the county kept all the money.
Tyler's lawyers say the practice, a version of which is used in roughly a dozen states, violates two constitutional provisions, barring excessive fines and taking property without fair payment.
"Home equity is property protected by the Constitution," Christina Martin, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, said. "When the government takes more than it is owed in taxes, that's home equity theft. We are thrilled the Supreme Court will hear this case, which we hope will end unconstitutional home equity theft across the country."
Tyler's legal team says more than a dozen states actively engage in "home equity theft," and that "on average, homeowners lost 86% of their equity."
Two lower courts have already sided with Hennepin County, including the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled:
"In 1935, the Minnesota legislature augmented its tax-forfeiture plan with detailed instructions regarding the distribution of all 'net proceeds from the sale and/or rental of any parcel of forfeited land.'"
Cert Grant Tyler Geraldine v. Hennepin County Mn Et Al. by WCCO -...
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