Anonymous Businessman Settles Elderly Couple's Tax Nightmare

Remember the Atwoods? They were facing the possibility of losing their home after it was sold to pay $1.63 in property tax.

A businessman from St. Tammany Parish and his partner agreed to pay a settlement to Jamie Land, the company that bought the Atwood’s home at auction and was preventing them from selling the house or borrowing against it to repair damage caused by hurricane Katrina. The Atwoods have been living in a FEMA trailer on their property since the hurricane.

From the Times-Picayune:

The settlement was signed Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., Duplechain said, and paperwork was to be filed at the parish courthouse in Covington later Tuesday and today to clear the title to the property to the Atwoods.

Duplechain said the businessman, who wants to remain anonymous for now, stepped forward Monday after reading a story in The Times-Picayune about the couple’s plight. The attorney said he could not disclose the settlement amount.

Jamie Land Co. President James Lindsay II said the agreement calls for the amount of the settlement to remain undisclosed.

“But it wasn’t a lot of money,” he said. “We’ve been willing to settle this thing all along.”

So he’s saying they were living in a FEMA trailer because they enjoyed it? Anyway, happy ending! Yay!


Tax lien nightmare ends in Slidell
[Times-Picayune] (Thanks, Christopher!)

PREVIOUSLY: Elderly Couple Could Lose Home Over $1.63 Tax Bill
(Photo:Scott Threkeld)

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