HOUSTON – In a heartfelt plea, Dominique Davis, a Houston grandmother, expressed her desire to keep the family home she holds dear.
Davis grew up on Plaag Street where her grandmother, Mary, was the family matriarch. The home passed down through generations. However, as Davis was paying on the property’s back taxes, she found out ownership changed.
“I gave my grandmother and my mother my word that I will fight for this,” Davis said. “And I have been fighting and fighting for four years, for four years to keep this house.”
Davis shared email screenshots with officials at the Harris County Tax Office showing the two parties agreeing to a monthly payment of $322 to retain ownership and prevent an auction.
Davis told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun as she was preparing to make the final tax payment to the county, someone else made a payment and were the new owners.
“I was under the impression; you can’t do anything because it’s under a binding contract with Harris County and the Tax Office. So that’s when my confusion started,” Davis said.
The Harris County Appraisal District website confirms the property is now owned by another party.
Balogun reached out to the property owner. They did not answer his call but sent him a text message. After Balogun introduced himself and explained what the story he was working on, the text messages stopped.
“They’re hiding,” Davis said. “They know they’re wrong!”
Property tax consultant Pat O’Connor weighed in on Davis’s situation. He indicated that, based on the information provided, it seems likely that there was a fraudulent conveyance involved.
“Based on what I heard from Dominique, my understanding is that the grandmother passed the title to her through the will and that the lady that sold the property had no interest in the property of the will. And yes, it does sound like it was a fraudulent conveyance,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor recommended that Davis consider hiring an attorney to help navigate this challenging legal landscape. Although she had previously worked with an attorney, she now feels disillusioned and uncertain about her next steps.
“The tears that I cry, they are sincere tears,” she said. “They are pain. This has caused me so much hurt, anguish and so upset because I feel like the sy
