The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of a 94-year-old woman who challenged a Minnesota county that seized and sold her condo to pay off her tax debt and then kept a $25,000 profit.
sided with her, effectively ruling Minnesota’s law on real property debt unconstitutional.
“A taxpayer who loses her $40,000 house to the State to fulfill a $15,000 tax debt has made a far greater contribution to the public than she owed. The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for theAt issue was Minnesota’s law that lets the government take a property to satisfy a debt and keep the surplus.
Chief Justice Roberts said in the unanimous opinion that governments have historically returned any surplus to the taxpayer, dating back to the 1200s in England. “Thirty-six States and the Federal Government require that the excess value be returned to the taxpayer,” he wrote in the 17-page opinion.‘s side, noting that the failure to pay taxes doesn’t mean the property was abandoned.noted that Minnesota gives taxpayers the surplus when satisfying debt on income tax and personal property like a car, reasoning that real property shouldn’t be treated differently.
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