TRURO — Officials from the Internal Revenue Service knocked on the doors of tenants who rent from David Delgizzi here last week and instructed them to make their rent payments from now on directly to the IRS rather than to their landlord.

“I heard the knock and thought it was some religious group,” said one tenant who was surprised to find IRS agents at his door.

The IRS’s Seth Grossman, accompanied by another officer, told those who opened their doors that his agency had placed a levy on all of Delgizzi’s properties, according to several tenants who spoke to the Independent. He provided his business card so the tenants could call him if they had questions.

Several tenants who live in Delgizzi’s properties on the Lower and Outer Cape agreed to speak to a reporter about the visits but asked that their names and the locations of their homes be withheld because they said they feared that the landlord would retaliate against them.

Grossman told the tenants, who have been wondering how Delgizzi’s failure to pay taxes for the last several years will affect their futures, that the IRS would send them letters following his visits.

Grossman is employed as a revenue officer for the agency. Reached by telephone, he said he is not permitted to speak to the press. Officials at the IRS’s media office said they would not comment on specific cases.

Delgizzi currently owes about $2 million in federal income taxes. He also owes about $400,000 in state income and meals taxes. The Mass. Dept. of Revenue and the IRS have placed liens on all of Delgizzi’s properties for those amounts.

David Delgizzi did not respond to calls from the Independent about the IRS’s latest action. His wife, Carolyn, would say only, “I don’t know anything about that.”

The Delgizzis, who live in a $2-million house in Weston, own several properties on Cape Cod as well as in other Massachusetts towns. The Independent has previously reported that David Delgizzi owns 31 properties statewide that contain about 100 rental units. Delgizzi owns three properties in Truro, seven in Eastham, four in Brewster, and three in Orleans.

Delgizzi’s father, Daniel, who died in 2020, continues to be the listed owner of two other Truro properties: the condemned Truro Motor Inn and a property at 101 Shore Road where 12 rental apartments are housed in two buildings. The owner’s address on the town assessor’s cards is 3 Bittersweet Lane in Weston, which is David’s address, not his father’s former address in Braintree.

Most of the Delgizzis’ properties on the Cape are in deteriorated condition, and Delgizzi’s makeshift repairs are done without securing required permits and are frequently inadequate, according to past Independent reports. But tenants stay because there are few year-round rentals available.

Truro plans to take the Truro Motor Inn by eminent domain, and town meeting voters approved a payment of $1.6 million from the Dennis Family Gift Account to compensate the owner last May. But officials have not yet followed through with the property’s taking because it is part of Daniel Delgizzi’s estate, which has not yet been adjudicated in probate court.

According to the federal agency’s website, an IRS levy permits the legal seizure of property to cover a tax debt. The IRS can garnish wages, take money in a tax delinquent’s financial accounts, and seize and sell vehicles, real estate, and other personal property.

One tenant asked Grossman whether the IRS planned to seize and sell his property. Grossman responded, “not at this point,” according to the tenant. Still, he said he was left wondering whether he would be forced to move. Tenants also worry about whether needed repairs will be done and whether it would be the IRS or Delgizzi who would handle those repairs.

Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe issued an order to Delgizzi in June to correct several violations found during an inspection of Unit 7 at his house at 4 Moses Way. Among those were water damage from leaks, improper repairs to plumbing, and evidence of mice. Tenant Jillian Howard said an exterminator and a contractor have come and provided estimates for the repairs, but so far no work has been done.

The IRS has previously exercised its right to seize Delgizzi’s properties and auction them. The agency seized 14 and 18 Brewster Cross Road in Orleans and auctioned them together on April 23; the high bid was $180,000. They are assessed by the town at a combined value of $955,400.

Delgizzi has 180 days from the auction date to redeem the Orleans properties. To do so, he must reimburse the winning bid amount plus 20 percent interest. That deadline will arrive in late October.

The Delgizzis continue to purchase properties despite their real estate tax debts to towns and delinquent state and federal taxes. Less than a month after the IRS’s auction of the Orleans properties, the couple purchased 52 Captain Baker Road in Brewster for $900,000.

Federal income tax officials also pursued Delgizzi for the last year in U.S. District Court for failure to file required income tax forms and records for 2022, which they need to calculate Delgizzi’s growing tab. He owes income taxes for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

The court, petitioned by the U.S. attorney’s office on behalf of the IRS, scheduled several show-cause hearings during the last year for Delgizzi to explain why he hadn’t provided the forms and records sought by the IRS. Delgizzi failed to obey the summons from the court each time, offering a series of excuses. He also failed to provide the paperwork and documents requested by the IRS.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris signed off on an order on Sept. 2 granting a petition to compel Delgizzi to produce the documents required by the IRS within 30 days or be held in contempt of court. In civil cases, the penalty for not meeting the deadline can be a fine, imprisonment, or other sanction, according to the Suffolk University website.