Homeowner Loses Condo Because City Messed Up Address On $95 Tax Bill

For the last few years, a woman in Georgia has been living in her condo and paying her local tax bills — except for one $94.85 city tax bill she never received because the address on the notices was incorrect. But that error didn’t stop the city from auctioning off her home.

The woman, who lives in the condo with her 4-year-old kid, tells WSB-TV in Atlanta that she never received the 2011 tax bill from the city of Norcross, GA, or any of the warning notices that followed because an incomplete address on the letters meant they were all returned to the city without being delivered.

“No street, no name. How can I receive the letter?” she asks.

WSB confirmed that the homeowner has paid all of her other taxes aside from this one small bill that she didn’t know about until receiving a letter last week telling her that her home had been sold by the city at auction and that she has until Nov. 25 to vacate the property.

Making matters more complicated, the buyer from the auction has already sold the condo to another buyer.

“Where are we going to go?” asks the mom. “I have nowhere. This is my house. Why do I need to move out?”

The Norcross City Manager told WSB that the city is looking into how this mess occurred, and said “will try to work something out.”

Meanwhile, the homeowner is looking for legal representation to help her keep her condo.

“Someone can rob your house? Rob your property?” she asks.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist