Opinion ID: 1439546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Miners

Text: It is undisputed that the Miners received notice of the foreclosure on their property also located in Clinton County. Defendants sent a notice of foreclosure in October 2005, indicating that the Miners were required to pay the overdue taxes from the previous two years by January 2006. The notice also stated that the only methods of acceptable payment were cash, money order, or certified check. The Miners did not pay the taxes by the due date and defendants initiated default proceedings in the County Court for Clinton County. It is undisputed that, in March 2006, Mrs. Miner called the County Treasurer's office and was informed that default judgment had not been entered but was expected to be entered the next day. Mrs. Miner did not pay anything, and the County Court entered the order of foreclosure on March 10, 2006. The Miners subsequently sought to reopen the foreclosure proceedings in order to vacate the judgment in County Court, but their request was denied. This decision was affirmed on appeal. See Clinton County v. Miner, 39 A.D.3d 1015, 1015-16, 833 N.Y.S.2d 715 (2007). The Miners also filed a Section 1983 action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. They claimed that their rights of due process and equal protection require that the default judgment be vacated; that defendants should reconvey the property for full payment of the taxes owed; and that, if the property is not reconveyed, they should be permitted to retain any surplus obtained at a foreclosure sale of their property. They also argued that New York's Real Property Tax Law is unconstitutional to the extent that it does not permit vacatur of the judgment, reconveyance of the property, and the right to retain any surplus. Finally, they objected to defendants' refusal to accept a personal check as payment for overdue taxes. In an oral ruling, the District Court (Gary L. Sharpe, Judge ) granted defendants' motion for summary judgment. The Court concluded that the County was under no legal or constitutional obligation to sell the property back to property owners after foreclosure. With respect to the Miners' claim that they should be allowed to recoup the surplus, the Court held that [w]here adequate steps are taken to notify the owners ... the county is not compelled to return the surplus from a tax sale. (Transcript of Miner Hearing, April 12, 2007, at 20.) Finally, the Court ruled that the County's requirement that delinquent taxes be paid by cash, money order, or certified check was constitutionally acceptable. This appeal followed.