GREENFIELD — Another plaintiff has joined the lawsuit against the city to seek compensation for money she believes is owed to her following the sale of her Vernon Street property for unpaid taxes.

Northampton attorneys Michael Aleo and Thomas Lesser of Lesser, Newman, Aleo & Nasser LLP, who are representing Stephen Woodbridge and now Roberta Browning as the plaintiffs, allege the city violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment by failing to compensate the two property owners for the excess value of the property over and above the monies they owed to the city.

The lawsuit, originally filed last month, comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled local government can only retain tax debts owed, and no more, when seizing and selling private property, putting an end to what some describe as “home equity theft.” Before this ruling, Massachusetts, along with 11 other states, allowed municipalities to foreclose on private property when taxes were overdue and keep all the proceeds, even if the taxes owed were a fraction of that amount.

“In May of this year, the United States Supreme Court issued a rare, unanimous decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, concluding that while a local government has the ‘power to sell’ property to recover unpaid property taxes, ‘it could not use the toehold of the tax debt to confiscate more property than was due,’” Aleo said in a statement, referencing the Minnesota case. “Putting it bluntly, the court plainly stated, ‘The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but no more.’ Unfortunately, this practice was not limited to Greenfield, but was rampant across the commonwealth.”

Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said it does not come as a surprise to her that “all of a sudden, these cases are coming out,” given the Supreme Court decision and the request before City Council to create an ordinance that would require the city to make “reasonable efforts” to locate past property owners and offer compensation for any excess equity taken after the sale of their property.

“If it goes to court and they agree with the plaintiffs, there may be an opportunity there,” Wedegartner said. “We don’t know. It’s a little early to try to figure out.”

In both cases, she added, the city is “ready to defend itself.”

The complaint was originally filed on Sept. 13 in relation to the property, formerly owned by Woodbridge, at Stone Ridge Lane sold at auction in October 2021.

Though a 13-acre parcel of the property at 87 Stone Ridge Lane was retained by the city, a second 6-acre parcel that included Woodbridge’s residence — assessed for $258,400 — sold for $270,000, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Springfield. The property was taken for unpaid taxes from fiscal year 2016 in the amount of $4,791.74, according to the Franklin County Registry of Deeds.

According to the complaint, the 13-acre parcel of land retained by the city, valued at $50,200, was taken for $970.11 in unpaid taxes, interests and other costs. The complaint states Woodbridge is also seeking “the difference between the monies [he] owed to the city and the fair market value of the parcel.”

According to the complaint, the city calculated its costs in taking the two properties, including past due taxes and interest, to be $54,098.

The property at 3 Vernon St., meanwhile, formerly owned by Browning, was taken by the city in April 2016 for taxes, interest and expenses owed totaling $1,578, according to the Franklin County Registry of Deeds. In 2017, the city filed a complaint to foreclose on the property, and by 2020, the property was sold at auction for $34,000.

According to the complaint, the city calculated its cost in taking Browning’s property, including past due taxes and interest, at $18,455.

“We were disappointed to learn that the city of Greenfield hadn’t voluntarily returned the excess value of the plaintiffs’ property to them, which represents their life savings,” Lesser said. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that municipalities are not entitled to windfall profits when they collect taxes from people who, sadly enough, are unable to pay. That is why we brought this suit.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.