Story Archive

The Next Great Lien

Coachella, Calif., officials thought Marjorie Sansom’s land there had become a public nuisance. So they started sending notices — to an empty house in Riverside. Sansom had lived at the Riverside address once, but not for years; she was 91, had dementia, and lived with her grandson and legal guardian. Officials never figured out how to reach either of them; they just kept fining her and mailing documents about her vacant lot to her vacant ex-residence, even though the U.S. Postal Service had told them there was no one there. Eventually, Sansom’s daughter and grandson inherited the land, and — after Sansom failed to contest the case (no notice, dementia, and anyway, she was dead) — the local government put a lien on it. Coachella will take the land unless the heirs pay the debt, which at $39,000 (including cleanup and court costs) is more than the land is worth, or the family can afford. “The fines are justified because there was no ‘good faith’ effort by the owners ... to contact the city,” said city development services director Luis Lopez. (AC/Desert Sun) ...OK. So can Sansom’s family fine the city because it didn’t make a “good faith” effort to contact them?