Geraldine Tyler and Tawanda Hall garnered attention from the general public after the two Black women faced the negative repercussions of property ownership.
According to Reason magazine, Hall had her house seized and sold by the government after failing to pay property taxes. At the same time, Tyler encountered the same fate with the condo she owned. To add insult to injury, the government also reportedly kept each property’s profits.
Hall originally owed $900 in property taxes, but due to additional costs such as late penalties, interests, and fees, she was billed $22,642. After Hall couldn’t pay the total amount, her Michigan home was sold for over $300,000, and the state received more than $286,000, the outlet reports.
In Tyler’s case, the 94-year-old accumulated $2,300 in debt from rent and property taxes, and because of similar charges, her overall total came out to be $15,000. The government reportedly sold her Minneapolis condo for $40,000 and allegedly kept the remaining $25,0000.
Although details regarding the timelines of the events are limited, the women’s stories made headlines because, after a years-long legal battle, Tyler is taking her case against home equity theft to the Supreme Court, which accepted the case on Jan. 20.
The women’s attorney Christina M. Martin told the outlet that the reason behind Tyler’s upcoming hearing isn’t to refute the government’s actions of seizing and selling the property to collect the debt, but rather the amount they obtained.
“We agree that the government can seize the property to collect a debt. What it can’t do is take more than it’s owed.” Martin said. As for Hall, her past legal pursuits with the Supreme Court were ultimately dismissed, and she is now seeking to go to trial to receive the six-figure check.
In Tyler’s upcoming case, the elderly woman will have the support of numerous organizations to help back her claims, including the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, AARP and the AARP Foundation, the Cato Institute, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, etc.