Scoop: Philadelphia filed tax lien against Mayor Cherelle Parker

• City solicitor Renee Garcia — Parker's appointee to lead the law department — filed the lien, demanding repayment plus any expenses and attorney fees incurred in pursuing the debt.

Context: Parker, who earns $270,000 annually as mayor, bought the lot for $1 in 2009, per city records.

• It's now valued at nearly $81,000, and adjacent to a property that's listed in city records as her primary residence.

The big picture: Parker has faced several financial challenges over more than two decades, according to court records obtained by Axios.

• She filed for bankruptcy in 1998 while working for then-councilmember Marian Tasco, court records show.
• A decade later, while serving as state representative, she faced foreclosure over her home and two lots. Her lender sought more than $206,000 after she failed to appear in court, per the records, and a default judgment was issued against her.

What they're saying: Parker paid off the taxes on Friday after Axios contacted city officials about the lien.

• "Her account is now zero," Garcia told Axios Friday evening.
• Liens are automatically filed by the Department of Revenue, Garcia says. She didn't review the lien against Parker before it was docketed with the court.
• Now that the mayor is current on her taxes, the lien will be "disposed of," Garcia added.

James Gross, the lawyer who represented Parker in the 1998 bankruptcy case, tells Axios that he filed it as a tactic to keep Parker's home from being seized after she fell victim to a "predatory lending scheme."

• The bankruptcy paused the foreclosure, he says. "That was the tool I used to buy time for her so she could reground herself." (The case was closed in 1999, per court records.)

• In her 2009 foreclosure case, Parker renegotiated the terms of her mortgage with the lender, Garcia tells Axios, and any missed payments were deferred as part of the agreement.

"Elected officials, like anyone else, are expected to pay their bills on time," Lauren Cristella, president of the government watchdog Committee of Seventy, tells Axios.

Zoom out: During her mayoral campaign, Parker ran on her past efforts to boost school funding, which relies on property taxes.

• She touted developing an "innovative way" to collect millions from "deadbeat property owners."

Other Philadelphia officials have faced similar tax issues.

• Former Mayor Michael Nutter had a lien placed on his home over a $507 delinquent gas bill in 2013, while District Attorney Larry Krasner's tax delinquencies led city lawyers to attempt to seize one of his properties.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Parker's lawyer and Garcia, the city solicitor.