ST TAMMANY PARISH FIASCO

[Cindy Driscoll]

Just want to pass on this fiasco- I participate in tax sales all over the country. Lots of us do. Zeus hosted St Tammany Parish. On 7/14/21 I purchased a tax lien cert. Paid $319/73. In the fall of 2002 when I did not get a tax bill I called. Sheriff's dept handles this. They said reason was because this sale was made in error. The property was not eligible to be sold, ie not delinquent. After much discussion Capt P agreed I was certainly due a refund since they sold something they had no legal right to sell. I contacted her in Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb. Same story-working on it. Their computers were acting up, yada, yada, yada. Spoke to her yet again in April and she said they were mailing me a refund BUT the $160 recording deed and tax collector deed fee was with the clerk of the court, assessor office. Her exact words were- I was lucky she gave me anything back because I should have researched the property- seriously??? There is no research that can tell you when a parish mistakenly lists a property that should not be in the sale. When I contacted JB at the assessor office I was told that- I should have done research, these are problem properties- this is NOT a problem property since the folks there listed something they could not legally sell! So imagine my shock when the St Tammany Assessor called me- indignant, angry and shouting at me. I did NOT call him. HE called me. I could not get a word in. I had already contacted Zeus who told me that the assessor and sheriff verify the parcels to be sold. He called me a liar, stupid, failure to research and uneducated. He was SCREAMING at me. I got in very few words. Then he boasted that HE was also an attorney and I did not get any of the money back unless it was redeemed. Seriously? How can an owner redeem a property that is NOT delinquent? I had to terminate the call because he was yelling so loud. I contacted the Attorney General and am waiting for a call back. This guy is actually elected and THIS is how you treat people who are willing to pump money into your economy and pay taxes for your parish?? I also contacted a local news investigator. I will NOT let this go. This would be like me advertising a car for sale because I was the lienholder, someone sent me the money but when they came to get the car I said oops, I forgot, he paid. And oh BTW I kept your money. I think in any shape or form this is known as THEFT! Ideas anyone?