Board Tries to Help Out on Tax Bill Forfeitures

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has directed county agencies to find ways to improve the way the county collects delinquent property tax bills from older people and those with special needs.

The motion, introduced by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, followed a Times story recounting the experience of Terrell Dotson, an 85-year-old veteran whose home was sold in a tax auction because of a $546 tax bill. Dotson, who had owned the Inglewood condo free and clear, was left homeless, sleeping at friends’ homes and later in a motel, courtesy of a Catholic charity.

Yaroslavsky called the loss of Dotson’s home “wholly avoidable” and called on the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, the county’s Area Agency on Aging and the Department of Consumer Affairs to report back in two weeks with recommendations for improving the system.

“I believe that this board should take all necessary steps to assist property-owning senior citizens and others with special needs to meet their obligations in a timely manner to avoid a similar fate,” he said in a meeting Tuesday. “This should not happen to anyone.”

Dotson, a World War II veteran, bought his condo in 1995 and paid his taxes each year in person, though sometimes in odd increments or late. But he had neglected to pay an installment that came due a few months after he purchased the home. That bill had been sent to the previous owner.

The county sent Dotson one delinquent bill that year, then in subsequent years indicated that there was a problem only in a small box on the regular tax bill. Although he continued paying subsequent tax bills, he never paid off the delinquent portion of his bill.

Notices sent months before the auction seemed to baffle Dotson, who supporters say has experienced diminished capacity. He scrawled messages apparently contesting the amount and returned the bills. In February 2002 the county sold Dotson’s condo, but Dotson didn’t know it. He realized his situation had changed when, after returning from a hospital stay, he discovered people living in what he thought was his home.

Vacie Thomas of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and Reuben Taylor of the Inglewood Police Department spent months trying to assist Dotson, who recently moved into an apartment.

They said the fact that Dotson owned his home outright -- and had been paying his taxes -- should have been a red flag, indicating that the owner might be an older person or someone with special needs. Officials in the tax collector’s office said none of their records indicate a property owner’s age.

Thomas and Taylor called on the county to examine its system. This week supervisors agreed. Yaroslavsky asked the agency to consider sending separate delinquent notices.

“You get one delinquent notice and from that point on your delinquency just gets folded into your regular tax bill,” he said. “Even for people who aren’t senior citizens or people with special needs, sometimes you’ve got to get clobbered over the head.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich suggested that older people should be “flagged in the system,” so appropriate help can be offered.

“We need to be a little bit more proactive for these types of people so they don’t lose their homes as this individual did,” Antonovich said.

Following the article, Yaroslavsky said, a number of constituents contacted his office saying they had experienced “similar situations where just by the skin of their teeth they ... finally figured it out.”

The Inglewood Police Department is accepting donations on behalf of Dotson, who got many offers of help and now has an attorney to assist him.

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Times staff writer Daren Briscoe contributed to this report.