A couple in California now owns a private San Francisco street lined with 35 mansions worth millions of dollars each — including homes once owned by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. — because of a delinquent tax bill of less than $1,000.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that the sale to Tina Lam and Michael Cheng actually took place in 2015, but it was largely unknown until the street's residents recently received a notice that mentioned the new owners. The couple paid $90,100 for Presidio Terrace and its open space, which includes several gardens and parking spots.
Cheng is a real estate investor and told the Chronicle he and his wife are always on the lookout for investments in the city.
"We just got lucky," Cheng said.
The couple is now trying to figure out how to make money on the property. Ideas include selling it to one of the street's residents, charging residents to park on the street, or even allowing the general public to drive or park on the exclusive road for a fee.
The road was put up for auction by San Francisco's tax office in 2015 after the Presidio Homeowners Association failed to pay its $14 annual tax bill for three decades. With penalties and interest, the total amount owed was $994.
The homeowners association told the city that its tax bills went unpaid because they were being sent to an old address.
Feinstein and her husband Richard Blum sold their home on Presidio Terrace in 2006, while Pelosi and her husband Paul bought a home there in 1969, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.