Rich SF residents shock: Someone bought their street

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by oldtrader

Lets look at the know facts.

1: Home Owners Association failed as required by law, to notify the city/tax office, when they changed the address to send the tax bill to. The did not do so for 30 years. Annually the tax bill was sent to the address of record. and returned to the tax office. The fact the HOA did not get the tax bill due to the HOA negligence.

2: The city tax office sent the notice of pending sale to the address of record. They advertised the sale of the property, as required by law. That is how a number of bidders, found out about the sale including the couple that bought it.

3: The property was auctioned as required by law, and sold to the highest bidder.

4: The sale became final,. one year after the sale, which is when the buyers received the deed for the property they bought. A lot of people bid on and buy tax sale property, and it is paid off with a substantial interest payment to the one that bought the tax deed. They do this, as it gives them a much higher return on their money than putting it into a bank or other investment. Only rarely does the actual tax sale end up with the tax sale winner getting the property.

As the couple said, they could do nothing until the year was up and they received the deed from the city. Some people actually make their living, if they have the money to invest and get such a good return on their investment, buying up property at tax sales. They rarely get title to the property, but the interest rate sure beats the bank interest.

The couple should now be paid for the property they bought. The Home Owners Association should have insurance to protect them for errors such as this, and this insurance company would be the one that has to buy the property from the couple.

Don't blame the couple. Blame a bunch of rich people and the management of the HOA who were responsible for creating this problem.

You're leaving out the city's requirement under the state law, to notify all interested parties. And the case law that uses specifically a situation where the tax collector knew the notices were being returned, therefore knew that the owner hadn't been properly notified - and the appeals court said that the sale was not proper.

The law is really simple and clear. It doesn't care who is rich or poor. You have to follow it, or you lose. And in this case, the city screwed up on notice, so the sale was improper. The other stuff regarding HOAs screwing up or the owners being rich, or the fact that it happened before - don't cancel out the legal requirement for the city to give proper notice to all interested parties. It really is that simple.