It took 91-year-old Upper Darby resident Gloria Gaynor a lifetime to achieve the American Dream of owning a home.
Now, suffering from dementia and confined to a hospital bed in her living room, the fact that she owes $3,500 in overdue taxes means losing the home she’s owned for 25 years, writes Maria Rosenfeld, Chad Pradelli, and Cheryl Mettendorf for 6abc.
Three years ago, Gaynor learned that Delaware County auctioned off her property at a tax lien upset sale, a process used to recover delinquent taxes. Now she’s being told she has to leave.
“We are up the creek with nowhere to go and no help, nothing,” said her daughter, Jackie Davis, who now lives in Florida. The new owners of Gaynor’s home want her out by the end of July, Davis added.
A Lancaster-based real estate firm legally bought Gaynor’s home from the Tax Claim Bureau back in September 2022 for $14,419, the price of Gaynor’s unpaid taxes plus fees and penalties. The home is valued at $247,000.
Gaynor and her family appealed the sale and tried to redeem the home, but to no avail, despite having paid nearly all of the mortgage.
Discover more about Gloria Gaynor’s situation and about other properties in Delaware County being acquired through upset sales at 6abc.
