South Bay couple sue to win back SF’s Presidio Terrace street

Tina Lam, and her husband, Michael Cheng, at Presidio Terrace in August. Tina Lam, and her husband, Michael Cheng, at Presidio Terrace in August. Photo: Nicole Boliaux, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Nicole Boliaux, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close South Bay couple sue to win back SF’s Presidio Terrace street 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Lawyers for the South Bay couple who snatched up San Francisco’s prestigious Presidio Terrace street in a 2015 tax auction — only to have the Board of Supervisors reverse the sale — have filed a lawsuit to get it back.

Attorneys for Silicon Valley engineer Tina Lam and her husband, real estate investor Michael Cheng, claim the board exceeded its authority in setting aside the $90,100 property sale in November, giving the private street back to homeowners who had failed to pay $994 in back property taxes.

The homeowners argued that they had been denied due process because the tax bills were sent to the address of a bookkeeper who retired in the 1980s.

“We are asking the court to stay everything and maintain the status quo,” said Timothy Yoo, the couple’s Los Angeles attorney.

Scott Emblidge, the Presidio Terrace Homeowners Association’s lawyer, declined to comment.

As for the couple’s chances of prevailing in the San Francisco Superior Court suit?

“We believe we have a meritorious case,” Yoo said, “or we wouldn’t have filed it.”