What bureaucrats can do to you (and with “diligence”!)

The woman says she never received any notices and never knew her condo had been sold at auction. Now city officials are trying to figure out what, if anything, went wrong.

Xui Lui says she never knew there was an overdue tax bill on her place because the notices were returned to city hall.

Lui bought the two-bedroom Norcross condo with cash in 2011. She lives there with her 4-year-old child. Records show she’s paid the county taxes and the city tax every year except that first year, when the certified letters warning of the outstanding balance were returned to the city because of clerical errors. That error turned out to be an incomplete address.

So she lost her house over a pittance, based on a bill she never received.

The city says they are “doing” their “due diligence”:

Norcross City Manager Rudolph Smith told WSB-TV on Monday, “We are going back and doing our due diligence. (The city contractor who handled the sale) will try to work something out.”

However, since the property has already been legally sold to another buyer, it’s unclear what can be done.

“Legally sold.” What a disgustingly loaded term that is. The state can take your property by right without even informing you?

Makes me wonder how many others have been screwed out of their property by governments.