Court Opinion

ID: 9852593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:33:25.790214+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:30.329657
License: Public Domain

BENHAM, Justice,
concurring.
“[T]he enforcement and collection of taxes through the sale of the taxpayer’s property has been regarded as a harsh procedure, and, therefore, the policy has been to favor the rights of the property owner in the interpretation of such laws.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Wallace v. President Street, L.P., 263 Ga. 239 (1) (430 SE2d 1) (1993). While I find the majority’s legal analysis to be sound under the current state of the law, I write because I nevertheless believe the result to be harsh and not in keeping with protecting homeowners’ rights. Particularly problematic is OCGA § 48-4-47 (a), which requires the homeowner to pay the full redemption price as a condition to maintaining a suit over the validity of the tax sale. This requirement places an onerous burden on persons trying to save their homes. A small tax delinquency can quickly balloon into a substantially greater amount depending on the bid made on the courthouse steps. In this case, even if appellants had moved more quickly to redeem and had reacted before the redemption fee was compounded over time by interest and penalties, under our present non-judicial tax sale scheme, which does not allow for any consideration of hardship or ability to pay, appellants still had almost no chance to redeem their property after the tax sale occurred. That seems patently unfair, especially given the current economic environment. I recognize, however, that this is an issue only the legislature may address, and so I reluctantly concur with the judgment.
I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Hunstein joins this concurrence.
*291Decided November 23, 2009
Reconsideration denied December 15, 2009.
Francis X. Moore, for appellants.
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, Gary A. Barnes, Ellen M. Taylor, William A. Castings, Jr., Vincent D. Hyman, Janet S. Todd, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, R. O. Lerer, Deputy Attorney General, for appellees.