That was a fun bit of news I saw
TL;DR - a very exclusive HOA in San Francisco doesn’t pay their $14/year tax on common spaces for 30 years through oversight. City sells their common spaces at a tax auction. An immigrant couple buys for $90K, now they’re thinking how to capitalize on it. Probably by making the residents pay for parking 
Good for them. That is awesome. The icing on the cake is that it is the street where major politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein used to live. Fuck’em. That is what happens when you don’t pay attention to the details. I hope they rename the street to “Cheng Way”.
They were smart for keeping it quiet for two years after the purchase.
And this bit was pretty good:
You want to punish the residents for who used to live there?
I’m sure this couple will eventually realize a huge old profit from this, but I’ll be willing to bet there is going to be years of trouble and bullshit to get it. The real winners will be the lawyers. And I think that is a bunch of bullshit.
I’m confused about the mechanics of this. Wouldn’t the city have to go through some process to take possession of the street from the HOA before selling it? The article says the tax bills were being sent to an outdated address for the HOA. I wonder if the city sent the “hey, we’re taking possession of the property” letter to the old address. And when no one replied, that was sufficient for the city to take possession? Otherwise, how was this a surprise to the HOA?
I have quite the opposite feeling about this. I suspect none of the current residents owned the homes in 1948, so the discrimination up to that time is probably irrelevant. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if none of the current residents lived there 30 years ago when the original mistake was made in not filing a change of address. The fact that famous people lived on the street in the past is equally irrelevant to the problem facing the current homeowners. If some bank had found this and bought up the street, you know everyone would be screaming foul.
And what about the address on the envelope. Was it never returned to sender as undeliverable in those 30 years? Doesn’t the city owe some diligence in determining where the bill should be sent?
Can the current owners sue the owners they bought from? If the HOA is responsible for knowing about the taxes owed, then did they deliver "damaged’ property? Did no lawyer or title insuarnce company involved in the sale of a home in those 30 years not see this?
I know that street. I used to park there to go to High Holiday services at Emanu-El synagogue, nearby.
This seems like an issue to be settled by title insurance. That’s what it’s for.
This article is getting passed around now as a “Haha, fuck rich people story” and I don’t get it. The HOA treasurer screwed up, it’s not like they were all willfully not making the payment. And the discrimination angle has no relevance unless it’s a bunch of 90 year-olds living there. One article described it as “just a few decades ago.” Since when is 70 years “a few decades?” Would you call Donald Trump a few decades old?
There’s a good deal of irony here. Presidio Terrace’s streets & common areas are now owned by first-generation immigrants. Getting their piece of the American Dream.
This decades old blunder is inexcusable. I had the same error with my tax bill after my mortgage was paid off. The mortgage company never notified the county tax assessor’s office to send it directly to me. They sent the bill to the mortgage company as usual. I caught the error when the bill didn’t come. I knew that I had to pay my property taxes. A quick phone call to the county got my address changed and they mailed me a duplicate bill. This HOA most certainly should have noticed they weren’t writing a annual check for property taxes several decades ago.
The couple wisely took their time (2 years) and got Title Insurance. The sale is irreversible now imho.
Btw, is it common for gated communities HOA’s to own the streets? Is that how they get away with prohibiting public access?
It is interesting the HOA’s delinquent taxes didn’t get discovered after homes in that area sold.
Apparently the title companies only verify that property taxes on the home are fully paid before closing. They didn’t check the HOA’s tax records.
That’s a pretty big blunder. HOA’s occasionally get sued, “hey veterans, take down that flag!!!” and the Title company needs to check for any civil judgements.
Shagnasty keep the political sniping out of this. They have nothing to do with this story.
The Cheng’s would be wise to accept a reasonable payment from the HOA.
I’m not sure how much. Perhaps $400k? That’s a good profit on a 90k investment. I think the HOA’s members would accept that instead of a protracted court fight.
Otherwise it will be the lawyers that get rich and the Chengs will have to wait quite a few years, maybe decades?, before they get any money.
They have title insurance now. Any legal expenses will be borne by the HOA and the title company. According to the article, they’re in no rush to sell.
I’m a little surprised that the government can impose a tax upon you, not inform you that the tax is due, and then seize your property over the unpaid taxes. I’m also a little surprised to see people thinking this is a good thing.
The smart way to play it would be to just run it like a good business that provides value to their clients. Just charge the HOA rent and provide all the services that are necessary and desired on whatever land and structures they own. Presumably they own the guard house, so they could provide access control and security services, landscaping, etc. They could even start adding new amenities for the residents that make sense. Lots of property management companies would be interested in buying it all up, I’m sure.
Or set up half way houses for druggies and alkies if San Francisco has any, and battered women’s refuges, and free clinics.
I’m sure the residents would be willing to work with the Chengs for a mutually acceptable solution.
Have you not been paying attention the past 10,000 years?
Sorry, my comment had little to do with specific politicians. I would have made the same one for any other famous ones as well if it happened in another city. My point was that it is ironic when common people use moronic laws against the people that had the power to change them including the former mayor of San Francisco that also used to live on the street. The law is obviously dumb but it is the law and the Cheng’s found a way to exploit it. It is much more common for things to work the other way.
That would be ironic and appropriate.