Puget Sound Investment Group, Inc. v. Bridges

After the Internal Revenue Service foreclosed on the residence of Robert Bridges, Puget Sound Investment Group (Puget Sound) purchased it at a tax sale. In this appeal, Puget Sound seeks authority to dispossess Bridges by means of an unlawful detainer action. We hold that dispossession may not be achieved through an action for unlawful detainer when title has not been cleared.

Bridges bought his home in 1979. In April 1996, the Internal Revenue Service foreclosed a tax lien on the home and, at a public auction, sold to Puget Sound the rights acquired through the foreclosure. The statutory…