Property Tax Lien Linvestor is Spanked in Court :-)

                                                       by Lachin Hatemi M.D.

A Louisville, Kentucky judge denied Tax Ease Liens' attempt to charge outrageous attorney fee. We are tried of these companies try to foreclose on properties for their lousy 200-300$ tax liens. Judge did the right thing and we applaud him for his decision. I hope Phil Migicovsky, owner of Tax Ease Liens, learned a lesson from this decision and other judges across the nation follows the suit.

Here we go, I love this story,......

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC v. HINKLE

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

WINSTON COTNER HINKLE, A/K/A WINSON COTNER HINKLE; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF WINSTON COTNER HINKLE, A/K/A WINSON COTNER HINKLE; DEBORAH BROTHERS; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF DEBORAH BROTHERS; WILLIAM HINKLE; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF WILLIAM HINKLE; SOUTHERN TAX SERVICES, LLC; CITY OF LA CENTER; AND COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, COUNTY OF BALLARD, BY AND ON RELATION OF JONATHAN MILLER, SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

SANDRA LYNN; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF SANDRA LYNN AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

GARY LINDSEY; STARR LINDSEY, A/K/A STARR MINICH AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

JEFFERY GRAVES AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

EQUITY TRUST COMPANY CUSTODIAN FBO AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

WILLIAM G. STANTON; MICHAEL D. STANTON; JAMES J. STANTON; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF JAMES J. STANTON; UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF WILLIAM G. STANTON; JAMOS FUND I, LP AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

DAVID L. ROBINSON; BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY AND UNKNOWN SPOUSE OF DAVID L. ROBINSON APPELLEES AND

TAX EASE LIEN INVESTMENTS 1, LLC APPELLANT,

v.

RONNIE TABER AND BALLARD COUNTY, KENTUCKY APPELLEES.

Nos. 2011-CA-000652-MR, 2011-CA-001162-MR, 2011-CA-001173-MR, 2011-CA-001174-MR, 2011-CA-001175-MR, 2011-CA-001176-MR, 2011-CA-001177-MR, 2011-CA-001666-MR

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Rendered: October 19, 2012.

R. Eric Craig, P. Blaine Grant, Daniel P. Cherry, Louisville, Kentucky, BRIEF FOR APPELLANT.

No Brief filed for appellees, BRIEF FOR APPELLEE.

BEFORE: COMBS AND THOMPSON, JUDGES; LAMBERT,¹ SENIOR JUDGE.

---

OPINION

THOMPSON, JUDGE:

These eight appeals filed by Tax Ease Lien Investments 1, LLC, a third-party purchaser of tax liens, have been consolidated. The issues presented are whether the trial court abused its discretion when it reduced Tax Ease's request for attorney's fees incurred during foreclosure actions to enforce tax liens and whether a pro rata distribution of the foreclosure sale proceeds should have been ordered to all tax lien holders. We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when determining the reasonableness of the litigation fees requested but erred when it did not order a pro rata distribution of the sale proceeds.²

Except for the amount of attorney's fees requested and the varying amounts awarded, the substantive facts are the same and the trial court's reasoning regarding the fees and pro rata distribution identical. To avoid redundancy, we only recite the facts in Hinkle v. Tax Ease Lien Investments I, LLC, 2011-CA-000652-MR.

Tax Ease purchased a certificate of delinquency on April 28, 2008, for $371.21. On April 30, 2010, it filed a complaint in the Ballard Circuit Court to enforce its rights to collect the amount due for the certificate of delinquency, accrued interest, attorney's fees and costs. A default judgment, summary judgment, and an order of sale were entered on March 16, 2011.

Tax Ease's attorney submitted an affidavit for an award of attorney's fees detailing the work performed and the hours expended to enforce the certificate of delinquency and complete the foreclosure process. The affidavit stated a total amount of time expended of fourteen and one-half hours and that the firm had agreed to accept a flat fee of $1,300, which equated to $89.66 per hour worked.³

The trial court reduced the amount awarded for litigation fees from $1,300 to $130 and reduced the request for prelitigation attorney's fees from $445.28 to $300.97.⁴ Finally, the court denied Tax Ease's request that the sale proceeds be distributed pro rata to all parties with valid tax liens. Tax Ease challenges only the reduction in litigation fees awarded and the pro rata distribution of the sale proceeds.