A timeline on how Barbara Ryan lost her Charlotte home
Here are some of the important dates leading up to Barbara Ryan’s loss of her Charlotte home in 2018-19.
▪ 2011-2013: Following the death of her mother, Ryan inherits the house at 4810 Drakestone Court. The Mecklenburg tax collector’s office routinely drafts Ryan’s annual property taxes from a $300,000 inheritance account controlled by the state treasury.
▪ 2015-17: Something begins to go wrong with the payment system. Public documents show the tax collector requests money from the treasury for what Ryan owes for the 2014 tax year, but does not pay off Ryan’s entire bill. According to Ryan’s lawyer, there is no indication the tax office sought any money for what Ryan owed in tax years 2015-17. The county phoned Ryan more than a dozen times, visited the house twice and also left notices. But it did not email Ryan, who is partially paralyzed and legally blind, and has trouble collecting and reading traditional mail.
▪ 2018: Ryan now owes more than $20,000 in back taxes; the county begins foreclosure actions on Jan. 8. Ryan’s home on Drakestone is scheduled for auction to collect the taxes for Sept. 18.
▪ Sept. 12, 2018: Ryan says she learns for the first time that she is behind on her taxes. According to court documents, she emailed Tax Collector Neal Dixon multiple times but does not hear back.
▪ Sept. 14, 2018: Ryan calls the tax collector’s office, is told what she owes, and uses a debit card to pay $21,438.25 in taxes, interest and fees. The money is deducted from Ryan’s bank account the same day. Two N.C. courts would later rule that Ryan successfully “redeemed” her house and maintained ownership by paying off her tax debt.
▪ Sept. 18, 2018: Despite her payment, Ryan’s house is auctioned off at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse.
▪ Oct. 15, 2018: Developer Jacob “Jake” Belk makes the winning bid for the house of $407,925.
▪ Nov. 28, 2018: The Kania law firm in Asheville, which handled the foreclosure and auction for Mecklenburg County, incorrectly tells Ryan that her window for redeeming her home has closed. Under N.C. law, property owners in tax foreclosure can regain their homes right up until a court approves the sale to a new owner.
▪ Dec. 6, 2018: A Mecklenburg judge confirms the sale of Ryan’s home to Belk, ending Ryan’s last chance to redeem her property.
▪ Feb. 4, 2019: Ryan is evicted from her home without a phone, money, ID or adequate clothing. She is involuntarily committed to Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center that afternoon.
▪ Feb. 6-20, 2019: Ryan is released from the hospital and lives on the streets for two weeks, sleeping in a parking deck elevator at night. An attorney who agrees to plead her case puts Ryan up in an uptown hotel. She stays for three months.
▪ Dec. 19, 2019: Ryan goes to court to reclaim her home.
▪ Oct. 20, 2020: Mecklenburg District Judge Paulina Havelka rules in the case that Ryan properly redeemed her home and is due restitution. But the judge upholds Belk’s purchase. Both the county and Ryan appeal.
▪ Feb. 15, 2022: The N.C. Court of Appeals upholds most of Havelka’s ruling, including Belk’s ownership. But the three-judge panel says the county failed to perform due diligence in notifying Ryan of her tax delinquency because it did not email her, as she had asked.
▪ April 29, 2022: Mecklenburg County files appeal with N.C. Supreme Court.
This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
