A US couple lost a mortgage-free home of $59,759 after a $588.21 tax debt grew to $5,268

A legal fight over homeownership and tax liens in Nebraska reached a major turning point when the state's highest court revived a compensation claim from a couple who lost their mortgage-free home over a relatively small tax debt. Kevin Fair and his wife, Terry, owned a home in Scotts Bluff County with no mortgage or other liens. The property was valued by the county at $59,759. After the couple failed to pay $588.21 in property taxes, the county sold the tax debt to Continental Resources. The dispute eventually reached the US Supreme Court before returning to the Nebraska Supreme Court. In 2024, the Nebraska court ruled that Fair had a valid claim that he was deprived of property without just compensation.Debt swells and deed changes handsThe case began in 2015, when the Scotts Bluff County treasurer sold a tax certificate for the unpaid $588.21 to Continental Resources on March 11. Nebraska law allowed the county to sell the tax certificate to a private buyer. Continental then paid later property taxes on the home. The county stopped sending the Fairs further tax bills after Continental began making those payments. Three years later, on April 13, 2018, Continental sent the couple...