U.S. v. Z Investment Properties, LLC

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting plaintiff-govt.’s motion for summary judgment seeking to foreclose tax lien against defendants’ property, even though tax lien had misspelled first name of prior owner of said property. Defendants had adequate notice of tax lien, where: (1) lien comported with requirements set forth in 26 USC section 6323;  and (2) record showed that defendants had constructive notice of lien, where, although lien did not appear through search of correctly spelled name of prior owner, lien did appear where search was made using initial of first name of owner and correct last name, as well as using “sounds like” search for correct last name of owner. As such, incorrect spelling of first name of prior owner did not make lien undiscoverable to either prior owner or subsequent purchasers of property such as defendants. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in striking certain statements contained in affidavit of defendants’ expert, where defendants failed to provide govt. with expert’s report or identify expert as one of their witnesses.