FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1-13-2023
CONTACT: Burt Peretsky, <peretsky@gmail.com>, 781-696-5579
NEW ENGLAND LEGAL FOUNDATION CHEERS US SUPREME COURT REVIEW OF HOME EQUITY THEFT
Boston-Based Public Interest Law Firm, the New England Legal Foundation, Had Urged the High Court to Review the Issue
BOSTON – The New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org) is cheering today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to review the issue of whether government can lawfully conduct tax foreclosures for overdue taxes that deprive homeowners of their earned equity in their property.
The case, TYLER v. HENNEPIN COUNTY, MO, raises the questions (1) whether taking and selling a home to satisfy a debt to the government, and keeping the surplus value as a windfall, violates the Fifth Amendment’s “takings” clause; and (2) whether the forfeiture of property worth far more than needed to satisfy a debt, plus interest, penalties, and costs, is a fine within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment). NELF had urged Supreme Court review of a related case.
According to NELF Staff Attorney John Pagliaro, who wrote the NELF amicus friend-of-the-court brief, the issue in the Nebraska-originated related case of SANDRA K. NIEVEEN v. TAX 106, et al, is, “when government seizes your home to collect overdue taxes, must it give you any surplus proceeds if it sells the property to pay the taxes, or compensate you for your lost equity if it retains but does not sell the property? In at least 11 states, including Nebraska and Massachusetts, the government may seize your property, sell it, and leave you with nothing.”
When NELF filed its amicus brief, NELF President Dan Winslow stated, “The New England Legal Foundation is a proud guardian of property rights on the side of homeowners and commercial property owners when it’s time to pay one’s taxes in an equitable manner.”
###
About the New England Legal Foundation
The New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org) is the leading non-profit public interest law firm in the region dedicated to addressing policy and constitutional concerns related to economic freedom. NELF’s ongoing mission is to champion free enterprise, property rights, limited government based on rule of law, and inclusive economic growth. NELF challenges actions by governments and special interests which would unreasonably intrude on the economic freedoms of individuals and business enterprises in New England and the nation. We believe that free enterprise is a foundational value of a democratic society and the best opportunity for people to lift themselves to prosperity.