Tangled titles threaten 14,000 Philadelphians

AFTER LIVING since 1968 in the Logan house owned by her mother and her stepfather, and raising her children there, Deborah Sharper nearly lost it in a sheriff's sale last year because of a tangled title.

Her mother died shortly before her stepfather in 1998, so even though Sharper lived in the house and paid the bills, the only legal heir was her stepfather's natural daughter, who had a house of her own.

"I was scared to death because I've lived here since I was 13," said Sharper, 60, whose name has never been on the title.

"This is the home I raised my children in, and I am now the legal guardian of my 5-year-old grandson, Nyier, who lives here with me," she said. "I was at the point where I thought, 'If I lose this house, where am I going to go?' "

A person has a tangled title if he or she resides in and maintains a home - usually purchased by a family member who has died - but is not the recorded legal owner on the title to the property, and so cannot take advantage of tax breaks such as the Homestead Exemption and Senior Tax Freeze or city-subsidized home-repair programs designed to help homeowners.

Tangled titles threaten the homes of 14,000 residents throughout the city, according to a 2007 survey by the Philadelphia VIP law firm, which has saved hundreds of low-income residents from losing their homes by connecting them with pro-bono lawyers.

Roxane Crowley, a longtime Philadelphia VIP homeownership lawyer, said Sharper's tangled-title case is typical.

"Family members are living in the house for a long time, and an event happens," she said. "They lose their job, they get sick, and they can no longer pay grandma's mortgage or real-estate taxes.

"They don't know they have a tangled-title issue until there's a crisis," she said.

That's what happened to Sharper, who became chronically ill, could no longer work and couldn't keep up with the real-estate taxes that were still on city records in her dead parents' names.

"The dead owner will get sued," Crowley said. "Maybe a notice will be posted on the property."

And with the notice comes the looming threat of losing the house through sheriff's sale.

Crowley said that is when low-income residents who can't afford a lawyer go to Community Legal Services, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, the SeniorLAW Center or a City Council member's office - all of which refer the cases to Philadelphia VIP.

Sharper was referred to VIP in 2013, after receiving notice that her house was scheduled for sheriff's sale because of nonpayment of $9,443.48 in back taxes.

"My mother and father worked hard for this house, so that if anybody in the family needed to come back home, they would have somewhere to come to," Sharper said.

For many years, before she was afflicted with a debilitating disease, Sharper worked hard, too.

"I was packing at Tastykake, making circuits at Philco Ford, housekeeping at Holiday Inn, doing house care for the elderly, doing child care - anything I could do to make a dollar. I didn't have a problem with working."

When she became physically unable to work, the unpaid taxes mounted.

Fortunately, when Sharper came to VIP last year, the city had just passed a law agreeing to delay foreclosure proceedings if a resident, who has a legal right to a house but does not have his or her name on the deed, enters into a low-income plan to repay back taxes.

Sharper's half sister, the only heir with a legal claim on the house, signed the deed over to Sharper in August.

So if Sharper does not miss a single payment on her back-taxes agreement, she can become the legal owner within three years.

Sharper's monthly Supplemental Security Income allows her to make the small back-tax repayments and keep up with current taxes.

After years of stress and fear, Sharper held her newly registered deed last week.

"I'm so happy, I don't know what to do," she said.

And then she defined the feeling that had eluded her since her tangled-title crisis began.

"I feel safe," she said.

Crowley said some tangled-title cases arise when "Grandma didn't write a will. Mom didn't write a will saying, 'I want my daughter to inherit.' What we see happening a lot in low-income properties is no will."

She said tangled-title cases also surface when there is a will that names family members who are scattered geographically and hard to find.

Shanna Epps, 49, has lived in her Frankford home for 20 years, raised her three children there and now baby-sits her three grandchildren there - but she has a tangled-title problem.

Epps provided live-in nursing care and companionship for the home's owners, Robert and Marie Spencer, for those 20 years, and was so beloved that after Robert Spencer's death, wife Marie willed the house to both her sister and to Epps.

After Marie died, Epps, whose only income is her disability benefit, couldn't locate Spencer's sister, whom she hasn't seen in 20 years and believes to be deceased.

A Philadelphia VIP attorney is helping Epps get legal title to half the property in order to qualify for the city's low-income Owner Occupied Payment Agreement, which would allow her to pay $13,000 in back taxes over time and would prevent her from losing the house in a sheriff's sale.

"The lady of the house wanted me to have it and I'm grateful," Epps said. "I'm thankful to my attorney for helping me become the legal owner, so I can keep my home."

Home-repair emergencies are another major trigger of tangled-title crises, Crowley said.

"Granddaughter's got buckets all over the second floor of the house because it needs a new roof," she said.

"Granddaughter applies to the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp.'s home-repair program for low-income folks, and is denied because her name isn't on the deed."

Tyrone Alexander's mother lived in her West Oak Lane house from 1969 until her death in 2006. Her husband, Alexander's stepfather, predeceased her. He had put his nephew's name on the deed for reasons that are unclear to Alexander.

The nephew lived in Winston-Salem, N.C. - never in West Oak Lane.

Alexander moved into the house in 2006 and has lived there ever since. For years, he tried unsuccessfully to find the nephew.

"I never could find him in eight years," Alexander said. "I even went to his mother's house in Winston-Salem. They said they couldn't find him. I said, 'What do you mean you can't find him? He lives here!' "

Alexander said his mother had suffered from dementia for years before her death, and the back taxes ballooned to $30,000 while the house deteriorated.

"I need a new roof because it rains in here as hard as it does outside," said Alexander, 68. "And the electric is a mess."

When he went to PHDC to access its home-repair program for low-income residents, his tangled title stopped him.

A VIP lawyer helped Alexander get the deed to his house in 2012 and enter into a low-income tax-repayment plan with the city.

Now, he's trying to get PHDC to fix the roof and repair the electrical system. "The house is falling apart," Alexander said. "I'm trying to hang on."

Crowley said that whether they require tracking down far-flung relatives or trying to save a resident's house from sheriff's sale when no will exists, "These tangled-title cases can take several years to resolve."

She added: "They are not sprints. They are marathons."