A San Francisco couple is seeking help from city officials after mistakenly purchasing an unpaved alley instead of a neighboring home. J.J. Hollingsworth and Alemayehu Mergia, residents of the Outer Sunset neighborhood, thought they were bidding on a house at 1926 Kirkham Street during a city auction last spring. Instead, they ended up buying an 83-foot-long, 7-foot-wide strip of land known as “Dirt Alley,” according to a report by the San Francisco Standard.
The confusion began when the couple received a letter from the city treasurer’s office about an auction for properties with unpaid taxes. The parcels listed were described as being “rendered unusable by their size, location, or other conditions,” with bids starting at $1. Hollingsworth and Mergia submitted a $25,000 bid along with an $8,000 transfer tax, using money from their retirement savings.
After learning that they had purchased the alley rather than the intended property, Hollingsworth contacted Supervisor Alan Wong’s office in December. In her outreach to Wong, she asked him to “represent me on a recent ‘street fight’ in San Francisco which needs immediate resolution with the [San Francisco] Board of Supervisors.”
Although homeowners can petition the board without direct support from their supervisor, Hollingsworth and Mergia believe that Wong’s backing could strengthen their case to reverse the sale.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco tax collector stated that the office does not have an official stance on reversing such transactions. This type of reversal has only occurred once before: in 2017, homeowners in Presidio Terrace succeeded in undoing a $90,000 sale of their street to buyers from San Jose.
“Let’s just get this done,” Hollingsworth told the Standard. “It would be an opportunity for [Wong] to prove that he can represent a constituent in the right way, see through this bullshit and fix it.”
Supervisor Wong’s office indicated plans to meet with Hollingsworth and Mergia soon to discuss next steps. Any reversal would require approval by a majority vote of supervisors.
“Supervisor Wong is committed to serving and representing the residents of District 4,” his office said in a statement reported by the Standard. “If the constituent ultimately wishes to pursue a request to rescind the sale, the supervisor’s office stands ready to assist them through the appropriate process with the Board of Supervisors.”
