Beaver County widow won't lose home over $6.30 late fee

By Adam Brandolph

A Beaver County widow whose house was sold out from under her because of a $6.30 late fee may keep her home. 

By declining Tuesday to hear the appeal of the Beaver County Tax Claim Bureau, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a decision reversing the auctioning off of Eileen F. Battisti's Beaver County home over a $6.30 delinquent tax fee and related charges. 

In December, a Commonwealth Court panel said the county Tax Claim Bureau failed to offer Battisti, 54, of Center an installment payment plan as real estate tax law requires. That opinion and order reversed the September 2011 sale of Battisti's house to S.P. Lewis of Imperial, who bought the Rosewood Drive property for $116,000, according to court records. 

Neither Battisti nor her lawyer, Ed Santillan, returned calls. Lewis could not be reached. 

Battisti argued in court documents that county officials improperly sold her home after failing to supply proper notifications about the sale or about the late fee that led to the auction. 

The $6.30 fee on her unpaid 2008 school property taxes had ballooned to $234.72 with interest and other costs by the time Lewis bought the home. 

The county court has allowed Battisti to continue living in the house. Court records said Battisti struggled to cope with household finances after her husband's death in 2004.

Full Article & Source:
Beaver County widow won't lose home over $6.30 late fee