Elderly couple could lose home over $1.63 tax bill

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Elderly couple could lose home over $1.63 tax bill
Family never got notification, has '7 years of emotional hell'


An elderly Louisiana couple remains in danger of losing their home in a bizarre battle over an unpaid $1.63 tax bill the pair never received.

Dolores Atwood calls it "seven years of emotional hell" that she and her husband, Kermit, who uses a respirator, have been living through since a strange series of events commenced in the last millennium.

"I don't know how much more I can endure," Atwood, 69, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "I wake up in the middle of the night, and it's on my mind," she said. "All this should have never happened."

According to the paper, the saga began in 1996 when the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office mailed a $1.63 property tax bill for the Atwoods' home in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans.

Though the couple had never moved, the bill was returned to the sheriff's office, as their official address had changed due to a postal system revision.

The Atwoods learned of the nightmare in 2000 when they discovered their four-bedroom, two-bath home – which they have owned mortgage-free since 1968 – had been sold behind their backs in 1997 through a tax sale for the $1.63 in unpaid taxes, plus 10 cents interest and $125 in costs associated with the sale.

"The sheriff's office could have easily found us," Atwood said. "We're in the phone book. We didn't go anywhere. ... And we never thought about telling the assessor's office about our address change because we've never had to pay property taxes before."

She says the house previously was totally state homestead exempt, meaning there had never been any tax bill.

It looked for a moment that the Atwoods' troubles were over when Assessor Patricia Schwarz Core got the state Tax Commission to nullify the tax sale because the bill was mailed to a nonexistent address.

"We thought it was over and everything was fine," Atwood told the paper.

But in 2002, the family learned it couldn't sell the home because of pending litigation attached to the property's listing in courthouse records.

The Times-Picayune says the notice was placed on the property by Jamie Land Co., which had purchased the property rights from American Land Investments a month after American Land acquired it at the tax sale.

Jamie Land Co. also had sued the Atwoods and the Tax Commission to get the property shortly after the commission annulled the sale.

Because the couple didn't have a clear title to their property, the house simply could not be sold.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, trees came crashing down onto the home.

"We didn't have insurance," Atwood said. "Since we didn't have clear title, we couldn't qualify for Road Home or a mortgage to fix the house."

"My husband said we aren't spending another dime on it until we know it's definitely ours," she added.

In May 2006, state Judge Patricia Hedges upheld the Tax Commission's action to nullify the tax sale and ruled the Atwoods were the legal owners of the property.

But Jamie Land, headed by James A. Lindsay II of Bush, appealed, and last month, a three-judge panel of the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld Hedges' decision in favor of the Atwoods.

But the legal battle continues, as Jamie Land attorney John Davidson indicated the company plans to take the matter to the state Supreme Court.

Lindsay, saying, "I have rights, too," didn't wish to pursue a long court case.

"I've been trying to settle this from the very beginning," he told the paper. "I've offered to settle for very little. Every time we meet in court, we beg to settle."

Lindsay said he's made offers ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 to settle the case and drop the legal action.

"I've got about $20,000 in this, and I would settle right now for $5,000," he said.

"I don't owe him 50 cents, not with what he's put me through," Atwood said. "This should have long been over with."

"Look, I don't blame her for being mad about it," Lindsay responded. "But when you get down to it, it was her who didn't pay her taxes."

Atwood said that had she received or even known about the bill, the $1.63 would have been paid.

"And we wouldn't have had to go through this ...  ," she said.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Guardian angel' returns home to couple
Anonymous donor settles disputed claim over unpaid $1.63 tax bill


A "guardian angel" has paid off a disputed claim stemming from an unpaid $1.63 property tax bill, allowing a Louisiana couple to regain ownership of their home.

"I don't even know who to thank," Dolores Atwood told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "But I'm relieved and happy that this is finally over."

The couple's attorney, Gary Duplechain, told the newspaper Dolores and her husband, Kermit, again will own their home because of a businessman from St. Tammany Parish, who along with his partner volunteered to pay to settle the lawsuit that has clouded the home's title.

Dolores Atwood described their encounter with the Jamie Land Co. as "seven years of emotional hell."

According to the paper, the saga began in 1996 when the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office mailed a $1.63 property tax bill for the Atwoods' home in Slidell, La., a suburb of New Orleans.

Though the couple had never moved, the bill was returned to the sheriff's office, because their official address had changed due to a postal system revision.

The Atwoods learned of the nightmare in 2000 when they discovered their four-bedroom, two-bath home – which they had owned mortgage-free since 1968 – had been sold behind their backs in 1997 through a tax sale for the $1.63 in unpaid taxes, plus 10 cents interest and $125 in costs associated with the sale.

"The sheriff's office could have easily found us," Dolores Atwood said. "We're in the phone book. We didn't go anywhere. ... And we never thought about telling the assessor's office about our address change because we've never had to pay property taxes before."

She says the house previously was exempt from property taxes under the state's homestead provision, meaning there had never been any tax bill. But a new assessment had pushed the value assigned to the home above the exemption level by $100.

It appeared the Atwoods' troubles were over when Assessor Patricia Schwarz Core got the state Tax Commission to nullify the tax sale because the bill was mailed to a nonexistent address.

But in 2002, the family learned it couldn't sell the home because of pending litigation attached to the property's listing in courthouse records.

The Times-Picayune says the notice was placed on the property by Jamie Land Co., which had purchased the property rights from American Land Investments a month after American Land acquired it at the tax sale.

Jamie Land Co. also had sued the Atwoods and the Tax Commission to get the property shortly after the commission annulled the sale.

Duplechain said the businessman wants to remain anonymous but had discovered the couple's story and wanted to resolve it. The lawyer said the agreement calls for the settlement amount to remain a secret.

"But it wasn't a lot of money," Jamie Land Co. president James Lindsay II told the newspaper. "We've been willing to settle this thing all along."

Now the Atwoods can apply for various grants to help repair the home, which was damaged during Hurricane Katrina but previously did not qualify for help because of the clouded title.

The lawyer said the settlement provides for the lawsuit against the Atwoods and the Tax Commission to be dropped and for the land company to withdraw any claims to the couple's home.

Although the courts already had sided with the couple, the land company was pursuing an appeal, and Duplechain said it's always better to get a case resolved.

"I advised her to settle and she had no objections," Duplechain said. "She started crying when I told her about it. She's happy to get it over with it."

"Awesome!!!" wrote a reader on the Times-Picayune's online comment page. "A guardian angel in Slidell."