One of the most exclusive neighborhoods in San Francisco is Presidio Terrace. It is an oval shaped street which used to be the private property of the local residents. However, things changed as of recently. All wealthy residents were reluctant at paying their taxes. As a consequence, they lost their San Francisco street to a San Jose couple.
Wealthy Residents Lost Their Ownership over Presidio Terrace Neighborhood to a $90,000 Bid
Tina Lam and Michael Cheng are two investors living together in San Jose. They recounted how in 2015 they were looking at online auctions that the tax office in San Francisco organizes. This is when they saw an unusual description in an exclusive location. They decided to take part in this session for a land in an ideal neighborhood.
The San Jose couple ended up winning the auction against 73 other bidders. In actuality, they paid $90,000 for the private street Presidio Terrace that hosts only houses valued at millions of dollars. As a consequence, the wealthy residents are no longer the owners of the trees, road, pavements or any other piece of common land. One of the many implications of such a situation is that they might end up paying parking taxes for every single day.
The New Private Owners Have Also the Responsibility to Manage Neighborhood Maintenance
This auction was possible due to the fact that the homeowners association in Presidio Terrace neglected to pay an annual tax bill of $14 over the last three decades. Consequently, the City of San Francisco had the right to auction off the entire property. This strategy saves money for cities, as the costs to maintain the private street is now the duty of its new owners.
Therefore, the San Jose couple is now in charge with maintenance for the Presidio Terrace neighborhood. Any accident that a lack of administration caused will make them liable to punitive funds. This can be a car accident due to the road being covered in snow. Therefore, the private owners might impel wealthy residents to pay extra taxes for neighborhood maintenance.
Image source: 1
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.