The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in the case of a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman whose condominium was seized by Hennepin County for failure to pay property taxes. At issue is the way at least a dozen states handle the sale of homes to pay off overdue taxes.
Geraldine Tyler bought her condo in Minneapolis in 1999 and lived there until 2010, when at age 81 she moved to a senior assisted-living center at the urging of her children. After that, she stopped paying taxes on the condo, which she still owned. Tyler does not dispute that the county repeatedly notified her that she risked losing the condo if she didn't pay up. By 2015, she owed $15,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees.
