In a baffling turn of events, San Antonio man Robert Stewart has become ensnared in a legal battle over a whopping $35,000 of someone else's delinquent property taxes. The saga began when Stewart, seeking a solid investment, purchased a foreclosed home at a Bexar County property auction for $45,000, unaware that the bargain would come with a costly hitch.
Stewart's shock was palpable when he received a tax bill saddling him with unpaid taxes he never incurred, as KENS 5 reported. He had bid on a property on Crystal Drive, hoping for a smooth transition but instead stepping into a tax nightmare. After involving KENS 5, the county has acknowledged at least $6,000 of the bill was in error, promising relief for that portion.
This taxing mistake traces back to the county's contracted law firm, Linebarger Goggan Blair and Sampson (LGBS), which failed to include all past due taxes in the foreclosure lawsuit, causing the subsequent buyer to foot the bill. The property, mired in complications since a 2011 lawsuit for taxes due before 2009, should have been foreclosed upon by LGBS then; instead, they allowed more taxes to pile up until at least 2019. Stewart was left on the hook when he unknowingly purchased the property two years later. Pointing out the oversight, KENS 5 intervened, prompting a reevaluation of the charges.
Grasping the gravity of the situation, Bexar County Tax Assessor Albert Uresti took measures to prevent such incidents in future sales. Not only will the law firm have to include all owed taxes in the posting for auctioned properties, but the details will also now be loudly announced during tax sales, ensuring prospective buyers are well-informed. Uresti, addressing the issue, confessed to KENS 5, "When I found out about this problem, I contacted the law firm and told them, ‘We need to make this process more transparent.’"
Meanwhile, Stewart, who now has a court date in April to challenge the tax lawsuit, believes the county law firm neglected to adhere to the tax code with the previous owner. As Consumer Protection Attorney Bill Clanton has asserted in his conversation with KENS 5, "It looks like the county had the ability to foreclose this property in 2011 and then didn’t until around 2021. During those ten years, it could have prevented these taxes from accruing. Why should the county be able to collect those tax amounts from Mr. Stewart that it didn’t collect from whoever owned the property at the time?"
In the aftermath of this ordeal, buyers eyeing foreclosed properties are advised to thoroughly research past taxes on Bexar County's website, to avoid falling into similar pitfalls. Stewart's saga has unfolded into a cautionary tale, highlighting the critical importance of due diligence in real estate transactions, especially those tangled with the specter of foreclosure.
