A Nebraska man will regain ownership of his home years after losing it due to a $588 tax debt, one of his attorneys announced Thursday.
Scottsbluff resident Kevin Fair has been embroiled in a legal dispute since 2018, when he lost ownership of the home he had owned for nearly 30 years after failing to pay $588 in delinquent property taxes. Scotts Bluff County sold the lien to a private investor, as allowed by Nebraska law at the time.
If Fair failed to repay the money, plus interest and fees, ownership passed to the investors, but Fair was allowed to remain in the home while the legal dispute continued.
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled against Fair in 2022, but a year later the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state court to reconsider. In August, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that Fair should retain ownership of the House of Representatives.
Mr. Fair's appellate law firm, Pacific Legal Foundation, announced that Mr. Fair and the investors have amicably resolved the dispute, ending the legal battle.
Christina Martin, principal attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, said the case confirms that residential property is “constitutionally protected.” As for Fair, she said the ruling “will likely protect him from homelessness.”
A message seeking comment was left Thursday with the Scottsbluff County attorney.
By the early 2010s, Mr. Fair and his wife, Terry, had already paid off the mortgage on their home in Scottsbluff, a town of 14,300 people in far western Nebraska. But in 2013, Terry was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Kevin quit his job to care for her. The couple was behind on their property taxes and owed $588.
The county placed a lien on the house and published the delinquency in the newspaper. In 2015, the county sold the tax lien to a private investor, who paid the taxes on the home for three years.
Investors asked the fair to pay $5,268 in unpaid taxes, interest and fees, which they were unable to pay. Scotts Bluff County transferred its ownership and stock to investors in 2018.
Mr. Fair's lawsuit argued that the state should be allowed to collect the debt, but not to seize the home or its equity in excess of the amount owed, in this case $54,000.
The court victory was bittersweet for Kevin Fair. His wife passed away in 2019, and he suffered a stroke last month. Martin said he had to build a ramp at his home to accommodate him. The GoFundMe account had raised nearly $10,000 by Thursday afternoon.
Nebraska changed its law in 2023 so that homeowners no longer risk losing their property due to unpaid property taxes.
