Articles

Washington Post endorses PLF position on DC takings case

November 23, 2015 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

On November 15, The Washington Post ran an essay that Todd Gaziano and I wrote, urging the District of Columbia to do the right thing and pay for the property it took from DC’s most vulnerable citizens.  As I explained last week on the Liberty Blog, until recently, DC used an outrageous tax foreclosure law … ...

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Michigan county confiscates private property over $8 in late taxes

August 05, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Does the Constitution protect you from the government taking your equity in your home, land, or business? That’s the question Andrew Ohanessian and Rafaeli,LLC are asking the Michigan Court of Appeals in Rafaeli v. Oakland County. Rafaeli owed the County $8 for overdue taxes, which amassed to $285 in taxes, interest, and fees when the … ...

Articles

Sixth Circuit slams the courthouse doors to takings case

February 10, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

The Sixth Circuit today dismissed Wayside Church v. Van Buren County, a case challenging Michigan’s unconstitutional tax foreclosure scheme. Judge Kethledge who dissented from the panel’s decision, summed up the case this way: In this case the defendant Van Buren County took property worth $206,000 to satisfy a $16,750 debt, and then r ...

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Michigan exploiting property owners’ hardships to enrich government

February 28, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

This week, PLF filed a petition asking the full Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the takings case of Wayside Church, Henderson Hodgens, and Myron Stahl. All three lost their property to Van Buren County after they fell behind on their 2011 taxes. The County foreclosed on their properties and sold each for significantly … ...

Articles

Weekly litigation report — March 4, 2017

March 04, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

POTUS on WOTUS: “It’s a horrible, horrible rule. Has sort of a nice name, but everything else is bad.” Victory in California Supreme Court on Coho Salmon delisting petition Petition for rehearing filed in tax foreclosure scheme Supreme Court denies forced-unionization case Administration action on bathroom rule may affect judicial ...

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PLF asks Supreme Court to stop Michigan from stealing

July 13, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

When Wayside Church fell behind on its 2011 property taxes on a parcel that the church had used as a youth camp, Van Buren County took the youth camp property and sold it for $206,000 to pay the church’s $16,750 in taxes, penalties, interest, and fees. The County kept the surplus proceeds—$189,250 more than the … ...

Articles

Weekly litigation report — Another Supreme Court Win!

December 01, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

Another PLF win in the Supreme Court This week, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously (8–0 with Justice Kavanaugh not participating) in favor of PLF client Edward Poitevent and his family in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In a factual sense, the decision concerns whether the endangered dusky gopher frog’s “critical ha ...