San Francisco Dirt Alley Sale Could be Reversed

A San Francisco Supervisor is coming to the rescue of a couple in Outer Sunset who inadvertently bought the alley next to their home.

Supervisor Alan Wong has committed to helping J.J. Hollingsworth and Alemayehu Mergia to reverse the sale of the 83-foot-long, 7-foot-wide unpaved dirt alley, the San Francisco Standard reported.

It all started last spring when the couple received a letter from the San Francisco treasurer’s office that advertised an auction on pieces of land where owners had failed to pay their property taxes. The parcels for sale were “rendered unusable by their size, location, or other conditions” with bidding starting at $1.

Hollingsworth and Mergia believed they were competing for a neighboring home at 1926 Kirkham Street, submitted a bid for $25,000 as well as an additional $8,000 transfer tax, taking the money out of their retirement funds to put in the offer. After celebrating their successful purchase at the sealed-bid auction, they realized that they had actually bought the alley next to their home officially referred to on Google Maps as “Dirt Alley,” rather than the building next door.

Last month, Hollingsworth reached out to Wong’s office, asking the newly appointed Sunset supervisor to “represent me on a recent ‘street fight’ in San Francisco which needs immediate resolution with the [San Francisco] Board of Supervisors.”

Though Hollingsworth and Mergia don’t have to have Wong by their side to bring their case before the board and ask it to overturn the sale, they believe having Wong’s support — and vote — will bolster their case.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco tax collector, which organized the sale, said the office doesn’t have a position on undoing the transaction, which has only happened once before in 2017 when homeowners in Presidio Terrace successfully reversed the $90,000 sale of a street in their gated neighborhood to a San Jose couple.

“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.”

Wong’s office will likely meet with the couple in person to explain the process in the coming weeks. A majority of supervisors would have to vote to overturn the sale.

“Supervisor Wong is committed to serving and representing the residents of District 4,” his office said in a statement, per 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.”

— Chris Malone Méndez