San Francisco street sells for $90K. Neighbours aren’t happy

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Cheng says reaction to the sale has been less than neighbourly.

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“I thought they would reach out to us and invite us in as new neighbours,” Cheng told The Associated Press. “This has certainly blown up a lot more than we expected.”

It turns out the homeowners association for Presidio Terrace failed to pay a $14-a-year property tax, something that owners of all 181 private streets in San Francisco must do, the Chronicle reported.

So the city’s tax office put the property up for sale at the cost of $994 in an online auction to regain unpaid back taxes, penalties and interest. The couple eventually won the street with a $90,100 bid in an April 2015 auction.

Scott Emblidge, the attorney for the Presidio Homeowners Association, said in a letter to the city that the owners failed to pay because the tax bill was mistakenly being sent to the address of an accountant who hadn’t worked for the homeowners association since the 1980s, the Chronicle reported.

Emblidge said the residents didn’t know their street was put on the auction block, let alone sold, until May when a title search company hired by Cheng and Lam reached out to ask if any residents had interest in buying back the property.

That was one of several options Cheng and Lam have considered for making the investment pay off.

Another option is to charge residents to park on their street — and rent out the 120 parking spaces that line the grand circular road.

“As legal owners of this property, we have a lot of options,” Cheng said, adding that nothing has been decided.

The matter could be headed for court.

Last month, the homeowners petitioned the Board of Supervisors for a hearing to rescind the tax sale. The board has scheduled a hearing for October. The homeowners association has also sued the couple and the city, seeking to block Cheng and Lam from selling the street to anyone while the city appeal is pending.

The Associated Press