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.
A local government gave ownership of Kevin Fair’s Nebraska house—and all of its value—to a private investor, in a practice known as home equity theft.
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…
The government took his home in 2018 over a $588 property tax debt. But a few days before Christmas 2024, Kevin Fair, an ailing Nebraska widower, found out he was getting back the title to his home. Now a GoFundMe has raised over $16,000 so Kevin, who recently had a stroke, can build a […]
“Eminent domain abuse.” Thanks to Susette Kelo and her brave stand against the government’s taking of her now-iconic pink house, “eminent domain abuse” is a commonly understood and widely disdained government practice. In Susette Kelo’s case, Kelo v. City of New London, the City used its power of eminent domain to take her home (and […]
Pacific Legal Foundation’s 2023 Supreme Court victory in Tyler v. Hennepin County changed lives—and is now being recognized for advancing freedom and human progress in America. For years, local governments across the country manipulated tax forfeiture laws to steal from vulnerable Americans—most of them ill, elderly, jobless, immigrant, or struggling homeowners who fell behind on […]
In 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court affirmed that it was unconstitutional for counties to keep more than they’re owed when collecting property taxes through the foreclosure process. But that wasn’t necessarily the end of struggle for Michiganders. For some homeowners, the struggle to recover the just compensation they are owed is still ongoing. A fresh […]
Two Pacific Legal Foundation clients have reason to celebrate this week as the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Kevin Fair and Sandra Nieveen must be compensated for the equity the government took from them via home equity theft. This victory comes more than a year after Pacific Legal Foundation secured a unanimous victory at the […]
In the 2023 case Tyler v. Hennepin County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Pacific Legal Foundation client Geraldine Tyler and declared home equity theft unconstitutional. But what happens to other past victims of home equity theft—should they be compensated? The win in the Tyler case automatically applied retroactively to others who found […]
States across the nation are responding to the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last summer in Tyler v. Hennepin County, in which the Court held that home equity theft—when the government takes more than is owed when collecting a property tax debt—is unconstitutional. But some states have proposed reforms that would require property owners to ask […]
Bloomberg just published a feature on Pacific Legal Foundation—quoting me—that has me split. On one hand, I love that Bloomberg is talking about “PLF’s mastery of the long game.” But the article got only half the story right. The article is a dual-profile of PLF and Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal advocacy group. Both […]
Pacific Legal Foundation’s Supreme Court victory in Tyler v. Hennepin County created a domino effect across the country. State by state, legislatures are banning home equity theft. Governments have realized that they face significant liability if they ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling that home equity theft is unconstitutional. In the New York State Assembly, […]
Only two weeks removed from Pacific Legal Foundation’s major Supreme Court victory against home equity theft in Tyler v. Hennepin County, there is once again cause for celebration, especially if you live in Nebraska. In Tyler, the Court unanimously ruled that Minnesota’s use of home equity theft—when governments and their private partners satisfy property tax […]
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.
