In 2024, a US court ruled on an ownership dispute involving two properties sold for $10,200 after a tax-deed transfer; here's what happened

Two properties in Indiana were sold for a combined $10,200 after a tax-deed transfer, but the man who had acquired interests in them earlier later challenged the validity of the deeds and the subsequent sales. The dispute reached the Indiana Court of Appeals.

In a decision in Thomas DeCola v. Matt H. and Anne L. Sheafer, the appeals court rejected Thomas DeCola's arguments. It stated that the tax deeds were invalid because of alleged problems with the notification process.

What happened in this case?

The two properties were previously owned by U.S. Railroad Vest Corporation. On October 4, 2017, DeCola purchased the tax-sale certificated for both properties.

On July 19, 2018, Railroad Vest purported to transfer its interest in the properties to DeCola through a quitclaim deed. Four days later, on July 23, DeCola assigned his interests in both properties to Argento LLC, an Indiana company that he wholly owned.

On October 4, 2018, Argento petitioned the trial court for tax deed, with DeCola acting as its agent.

The court ordered the issuance of the tax deeds the following day. The Jasper County Auditor issued the deeds to Argento on October 24, 2018, and they were recorded later that month.

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When were the properties sold for $10,200?

Argento subsequently sold the two properties to Matt and Anne Sheafer in separate transactions in August 2019 and February 2020. The combined sale price was around $10,200.

The dispute resurfaced in December 2021.

The trial court rejected DeCola's motion. It found no evidence supporting the allegation that the required parties had failed to receive actual notice.

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Why did the appeals court reject the challenge?

The appeals court said DeCola had not provided affirmative evidence showing that Railroad Vest had failed to receive the required notice. It therefore found no basis to overturn the lower court's decision on this ground.

However, the court agreed with the lower court that DeCola, as Argento's sole owner, was the person who could have hired a lawyer to represent the company. The court concluded that he could not use a defect he could have corrected to invalidate the proceedings.

What was the final ruling?

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision, leaving the ruling in favour of the Sheafers undisturbed.