New sheriff, old problem?

RON WALKER has a strong back for a 68-year-old man. What's bending it in half is the weight of owing thousands of dollars to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he's being treated for prostate cancer.

"Once a week, the bill collectors call. I say, 'I can't pay you yet,' " says Walker, sitting in his kitchen, showing me neat rows of financial figures he tracks in a copy book. "They say, 'We'll call you again next week.' It keeps me up at night."

Walker's bills total about $23,000 - almost the exact amount, ironically, that he's owed by the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office for the 2012 sale of a house he owned in South Philly. Instead, Walker's money is being withheld for reasons that might have been avoided altogether if the sheriff had followed a state code that's been on the books for years.

From what I can tell, the code wasn't followed. But I've had this case explained to me four different ways, so who knows?

Walker's headache began when the Sheriff's Office sold his property on South 17th Street for nonpayment of taxes and other fees. Once the liens were paid, $47,908.50 remained, to be split between Walker and his uncle, who co-owned the place.

At that point, what the sheriff should've done was work with a title company to research any additional bills related to the property. And then the title company would've tracked down Walker and the uncle to verify their information. That would've resulted in creation of a "schedule of distribution," which would've spelled out precisely who was owed what.

By law, this was to have been done within 30 days. But the Sheriff's Office is unable to locate records of the schedule being created in 2012.

Was the process even done back then? Who knows?

This is an office still dealing with the fallout from the tenure of former Sheriff John Green, who resigned in disgrace in 2011. Under Green, the office had stashed nearly $56 million in 13 bank accounts; at least half was owed to property owners who'd lost homes to foreclosures and tax sales.

The thing is, Walker's case appears to have been a simple one: The home's deed made it clear that he and his uncle each would be entitled to exactly half the proceeds if the property ever sold. So the distribution schedule would have been straightforward.

But Walker didn't know the property had been sold until December 2014, when he got a call from a man named Joe O'Hara.

For a contingency fee, O'Hara helps folks with paperwork needed to submit claims to the Sheriff's Office for property-sale proceeds (he combs public records for the names). O'Hara got the ball rolling on Walker's behalf.

Meantime, the uncle who co-owned the property died in January 2015. And now the sheriff won't pay Walker until an estate is opened in the uncle's name. Except that the heirs, who live in Florida, aren't doing so, for reasons unknown to Walker.

So Walker sits in limbo, waiting, his bills piling up with his worries.

"This feels awful," says Walker, a retiree and a 16-year U.S. Army veteran whose illness and medical expenses have forced him to move in with his 85-year-old mother in West Philly. "The doctors saved my life. They deserve to get paid."

Sheriff's Office spokesman Joe Blake says the office is withholding the money on the advice of City Line Abstract, a Bala Cynwyd title company to which the office recently referred Walker's claim. A spokesman for City Line declined to comment.

From what I can tell, City Line is simply performing its due diligence. Had City Line, or any title company, been brought in three years ago when the property sold, Walker and his uncle might've been paid by now, their claim uncomplicated by the uncle's death.

Blake was frustrated by my interest in Walker's case, fearing that it would overshadow the immense strides the Sheriff's Office has made since Green's resignation.

More than $5 million has been returned to property owners in the last four years, he says. And at least one title-company owner I spoke with says the office these days is more efficient, more nimble and more customer-focused than it ever was under Green.

So let's give props where they are due. But is there really no way for Walker to get what he's owed?

I ran Walker's case by Christopher Craig, chief legal counsel in the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, which also distributes unclaimed funds to former property owners. He described a court process that might work in Walker's case. I won't pretend to understand it, but it might help Walker get his money.

I described it to O'Hara, who'll see what he can do. Because Walker is a good man who really needs the money he's owed.

"I just want a clean slate," says Walker, dropping his chin wearily into his hand. "It would change my life."

Phone: 215-854-2217

On Twitter: @RonniePhilly

Blog: ph.ly/RonnieBlog

Columns: ph.ly/Ronnie