TAMPA - Two Florida companies sued the Hillsborough County tax collector and the Pinellas County tax collector for allegedly violating law outlined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), according to a lawsuit filed on Feb. 22 in Tampa federal court
Plaints SSC8 LLC and WMAC 2014 LLC frequently bid on tax liens on Florida delinquent taxpayer properties, according to the suit. The bidding process, however, is allegedly unfair and illegal in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, and the plaintiffs say that tax collectors Nancy C. Millan and Charles W. Thomas are violating IRS rules.
The IRS has outlawed the act of master bidding, in which a sole company or individual will use thousands of insipid employer identification numbers (EIN) for fake frontage companies that have no assets or employees to make bids on a tax lien, resulting in a tie among thousands of the illegitimate companies and a handful of legitimate bidders like plaintiffs, the suit says.
The defendants use a random process to pick the winner in the tie, but with the bidding space flooded by the fake companies from the master bidder, real companies like SSC8 and WMAC 2014 are unfairly pushed out, the suit says.
Judgment for damages and relief is requested in addition to litigation fees. The plaintiffs are represented by Nicole Newlon of Johnson, Cassidy, Newlon and Decort PA of Tampa.