Evening star., 1936-02-14
TAX SALE SYSTEM
|SCONDEMNEDAT
HOUSE HEARING
DirkSen Leads Attack on
Operations of Professional
Title Dealers.
SEES NEED FOR CHANGE
IN COLLECTION OF LEVY
Senate-Approved Bill Would En-
able Commissioners to Get
Clear Title.
RY JAMES E. CHM.

The Districts tax sale system, under
which professional tax title dealers buy
every year millions Of dollars worth
of real estate, was vigorously con-
demned today at hearing before the
Judiciary Subcommittee of the House
District Committee on a Senate-ap-
proved bill to enable the Commission
ers to get clear title on property bid
in at auction for delinquent taxes
The attack was led by Representa-
tive Dirksen, Republican, of Illinois.
who offered his cooperation to Dis
trict officials in pushing legislation TO
have the system altered. Rufus Lusk,
secretary of the Washington Taxpay-
ers' Association, agreed with Dirksen
that a new method of collecting de-
linquent taxes is needed.
Philosophy Is Wrong"
"The whole philosophy of this thing
is wrong" declared Dirksen. IF taxes
are not paid it is not the function of
the District to take away a persons
property or to give the professional
tax title buyer weapon with which to
milk the owners. It's hideous damn
thing when you think about it."
Dirksen pointed out the professional
buyers procure tax titles to the
cream" of the property on which
taxes are delinquent and leave the re-
mainder for the District to buy in al
the tax sales.
These professional buyers are not
sympathetic" Dirksen said. They
don't care whether they leave the
property owner high or dry or not
They came in here this year and picked
up tax titles to slO.00O,0OO or l2,000.-
900 worth of property that looked good
to them. And the District gave these
spectators opportunity of playing with
a lot of good property with the expec-
tation of getting juicy cut"
Lusk Cities Widows Case.
Lusk charged that the professional
tax title buyers make an effort tc
get all the money they possibly car
when the property owner tries to re-
cover the tax title
He cited case In which a widow
was called on to pay corporation
charge" of $343 when she attempted
to redeem the tax title to her property
which had been sold to a professional
buyer.
S. B. Lydane, deputy tax collector
told the subcommittee tax titles tc
1897 pieces of property on which
taxes were delinquent were sold to in.
dividuals at the last auction anc
that the District bid in 10000 pieces
Prettyman Promises Aid.
Corporation Counsel E. Barrett
Prettyman explained the bill would
provide the District with "a Sizeable
amount" of immediate revenue. and
said there was no opposition to it.
He also promised to aid in drafting
bill to change the present tax sales
system.
Under the present law the District
must name all interested parties" as
defendants in suit to acquire title
of property bid in at a tax sale
Prettyman said this has proved i'm
possible in many cases with the re-
suit that the District holds a large
amount of property that it cannot
acquire title to.
The bill which the subcommittee is
expected to report favorably author
izes the Commissioners to name the
last recorded owner as defendant and
49,
by publication or notice of the suit.