“(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday curbed state and local governments from seizing and selling the homes of people with unpaid property taxes and keeping the proceeds beyond the amount owed, deeming the practice unconstitutional in a ruling in favor of a 94-year-old woman who battled tax authorities in Minnesota.

The justices ruled 9-0 in the property rights case to overturn a lower court's decision to throw out Geraldine Tyler's proposed class action lawsuit accusing Hennepin County, which contains Minnesota's most-populous city Minneapolis, of violating her rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment.

The Supreme Court agreed with Tyler's view that the county violated the Fifth Amendment's bar on the uncompensated taking of private property by a government for public use, a provision known as the "Takings Clause."

Tyler had owed roughly $15,000 in property taxes, including interest and fees. The county foreclosed on her home and in 2016 sold it at auction for $40,000, keeping the balance for its own use.

"A taxpayer who loses her $40,000 house to the state to fulfill a $15,000 tax debt has made a far greater contribution to the public fisc than she owed," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.”

Full article at: https://news.yahoo.com/us-supreme-court-curbs-states-150311156.html

My comment: Nice to see all nine agree (for a change); especially when it's a matter of Government Overreach.