Did You Know About “Equity Stealing”?
Tyler v. Hennepin County, the US Supreme Court considered whether the government’s seizure of a property worth far more than needed to satisfy a debt constitutes a fine within the meaning of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments. The case involved a Minnesota tax foreclosure sale where the county taxing authority foreclosed on a 94-year-old woman’s condo and kept the excess surplus over the amount owed upon foreclosure sale. The Court ruled that home equity theft violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Court explained that property rights are fundamental and cannot be erased by a state statute that redefines them out of existence. “The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the decision, “but no more.” Consequently, many state statutes, including some in Massachusetts, may be unconstitutional and require revision so that equity may be returned to the owner.