Board votes to rescind Presidio Terrace tax sale after residents say they never received notice

The Board of Supervisors voted 7–4 to conditionally rescind the online tax sale of the Presidio Terrace common area after residents and their counsel argued the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office knew notices it sent were returned and undertook insufficient additional steps to locate the association and homeowners before auctioning the land.

The dispute stems from a century-old parceling anomaly: Presidio Terrace’s streets, sidewalks and green space were recorded as a separately taxable parcel. Homeowners testified they paid HOA dues and their individual property taxes for decades but were unaware the separate common-area parcel had fallen into tax delinquency after an accountant transition in the 1990s.

Scott Emblidge, attorney for the Presidio Terrace Association, told the board the tax collector received certified-mail notices returned as undeliverable and then took no additional step — such as posting the property, performing a more exhaustive address search, or locating parties of interest by examining recorded easements — before offering the parcel at online auction. Emblidge cited US Supreme Court precedent (Jones v. Flowers) and California authority saying counties must take “additional reasonable steps” when mailed notice is returned.

Treasurer Jose Cisneros testified that his office followed state procedures for tax auctions, focusing its outreach on occupied parcels and using vendor searches of lien holders. Cisneros acknowledged that in 2015 many certified-mail notices for auction-eligible parcels were returned undelivered and that his office’s standard vendor title searches did not include the easement language that would have linked the parcel to the Presidio Terrace Association’s contact information.

Attorney Shepherd Kopp spoke for the buyers, Tina Lam and Michael Chang, who purchased the parcel at auction and argued the tax sale complied with state law and the controller’s manual; they said they have paid property taxes since acquiring the parcel and offered to enter a no-cost agreement allowing homeowners to use and maintain the common area.

Multiple Presidio Terrace residents testified they only learned of the sale when contacted by the buyers; the British Consul General also appeared in support of rescission, saying the British government owns a residence on the terrace and should have been considered a party of interest. Residents urged the board to rescind and require the Treasurer’s Office to adopt more robust search and posting procedures.

Supervisor Farrell, moving the rescission, said the result should be to return the common area to the homeowners and require immediate payment of back taxes; she and other supporters argued the city should not facilitate a result that allows outside speculators to gain ownership of private streets through a procedural failure.

The Treasurer-City Attorney staff acknowledged changes to auction practices since 2015 and said they would pursue improved search and notice procedures going forward. The Board’s vote instructs staff to rescind the sale conditionally and to pursue remedies consistent with the board’s adopted motion.