Have you ever miscalculated a bill? Typically, a late fee or a strongly worded warning follows. But in some states, the government will seize your property, sell it, and leave you with nothing.
In 2023, PLF brought home equity theft to the Supreme Court in Tyler v. Hennepin County and the Supreme Court unanimously declared the practice unconstitutional. Now, PLF is working with state legislators across the country to reform local laws.
Property taxes must be paid, and it’s legal for governments to take property to pay an outstanding debt. But the government shouldn’t keep any more money beyond what’s owed. The rest is your property: home equity that you’ve worked hard to build.
Is Home Equity Theft happening to you? Submit a case.
In courts and legislatures, Pacific Legal Foundation fights to protect your nest egg and prevent governments from stealing homeowners’ equity.
In January 2023, the Supreme Court announced it would review the case of Geraldine Tyler, an elderly widow who is suing Hennepin County, Minnesota for the unconstitutional theft of her home equity. When Geraldine fell behind on the property taxes for her one-bedroom condo, the government seized the home, sold it, and kept every penny—even though it was more than double what Geraldine owed. “When the government takes more than it is owed in taxes, that’s home equity theft,” Pacific Legal Foundation senior attorney Christina Martin, who represents Geraldine, said. On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court announced a unanimous decision in favor of Geraldine, ruling that home equity theft violates the Takings Clase of the Fifth Amendment. The Court explained that property rights are fundamental and cannot be erased by a state statute that redefines them out of existence. “The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the decision, “but no more.” Read more about Tyler v. Hennepin County.
Home equity theft happens when governments auction off seized houses and keep the profits—even once the tax bill is paid.
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last year centered on a then-94-year-old Minneapolis woman named Geraldine Tyler, who’d lost the condominium where she once lived after failing to pay property…
In a cage match between the judicially enforceable constitutional right to be justly compensated when one’s property is taken, and a state’s claim to sovereign immunity, which doctrine prevails?
For years, Kevin Fair has been staring down a coarse reality: poised to have his home seized, along with all of its equity, because he accrued a modest debt on his property taxes. The Nebraska Supreme…
In what Legal Aid lawyers are calling a “historic about-face,” the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of two different elderly homeowners who fell victim to what critics described as …
AARP applauds Massachusetts lawmakers for passing and Gov. Maura Healy for enacting a law that makes a practice known as home equity theft illegal in the Bay State.
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against property tax collections that give the government more than it is owed, homeowners are filing a crop of lawsuits to enforce their rights under the rul…
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Help us end the practice of home equity theft for good. Your support helps us bring additional legal challenges and legislative solutions to protect the home equity of hardworking Americans.
