Lydia is an attorney, and the Director of Operations for CivicSource, the leading auctioneer in the tax lien and tax sale spaces, providing digitized due diligence compliance and clear title in transfers of tax-distressed real estate. Lydia was introduced to CivicSource during the ten years she served as the elected Collector of Revenue for Clay County, Missouri.  One of her duties was to conduct the complex annual tax sale, auctioning hundreds of tax liens on properties located in the Kansas City suburbs. Her tenure as an elected official included active membership in the local chambers of commerce, and participation in local economic development efforts. She also worked on legislative reform and litigation affecting the process of collecting and enforcing tax liabilities.

During law school, Lydia was a published member of the Law Review, and a decorated moot court champion. She practiced law in the private sector for several years before seeking public office. During that time, Lydia worked with the special labor counsel team for the state of New Jersey, held a real estate broker’s license, and worked with the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City to help attract and grow businesses in blighted portions of the city. She has presented continuing legal education to the Clay County bar association on matters affecting the annual tax sale, has previously presented for NTLA, and holds the Certified Tax Lien Professional™ certification.  Lydia also teaches Business Law and Real Estate Law on the undergraduate level.

Lydia is an active member of a non-denominational church where she sings on the worship team and paints religious art. She has been married since 1999, and has a son and two daughters. She loves to play the piano and ride her motorcycle—but not at the same time. Lydia’s mission in life is to ensure a level playing field for all participants in the tax billing, payment, and enforcement world—from the individual taxpayer to the investor, and from the public official to the school districts that are funded with tax dollars.

Attorney Dale Sweet lives and works in the City of St. Louis.  He represents litigants in tax sale matters in the City and in surrounding Missouri counties.  Dale is also a serial residential rehabber and is particularly interested in the relationships between tax-delinquent properties, vacancy, and blight. 

Phillip Kent Gebhardt has been licensed as a Missouri attorney for more than 40 years, most of that time spent as a solo practitioner concentrating on the practice of real property law, with stints of employment as a title insurance agent/examiner/in-house attorney, as a Missouri Assistant Attorney General, as a staff attorney in the Missouri State Auditor’s Office, and as a law clerk for a Missouri Supreme Court Judge.  Formerly licensed as a commercial real estate appraiser and as a Missouri title insurance producer and licensed as a real estate broker by the Missouri Real Estate Commission. 

Michelle D. McBride was elected St. Charles County Collector of Revenue in November 2006 and took office March 1, 2007.  McBride’s educational background includes a Bachelors of Science in Accountancy with a Minor in Computer Science and a Master of Science in Administration with a Management Focus.  She is active with the Missouri County Collectors’ Association – served as its President from 2016 thru 2017 and with the National Association of County Collectors, Treasurers, and Finance Officers – served as its President from 2019 thru 2021 and is currently serving as Immediate Past President.