Any time a governmental agency is incentivized to obtain property/cash through asset forfeiture and/or foreclosure - they will abuse that process and victims be damned.
@@stevenstrain283Bad either way imo, especially if/when theft is involved (i.e. taxes). The video however specifies that she was not properly notified, not that it was wrong for her to be evicted.
@@stevenstrain283 Property taxes are a disgusting concept, anyway. You pay taxes when you buy something -- being continually taxed for "owning" something (because you never own something in this scenario) is vile.
In a follow-up story, we'll learn that the house was sold in a closed, private auction to which only close relatives of the mayor were invited. This is ridiculous.
This is the city of Worcester. Obviously some shady business is going on. $300k is cheap for a home, even there. $3,400 though? Worcester is a new hotbed for home buying and home values have risen significantly over the past 5 years.
Most lawyers really do need to have their work approved by a committee of citizens, because they are so whored out by greed, they pox everything they touch and ugly out their communites.
Taking someones home away from them and giving it to someone else for literally pennies on the dollar is disgusting. If it was anyone other than the government it would already be criminal
I was thinking along a similar line, the new owner (as garbage as they are) should only be charged taxes in the amount based on the new value of 3300. Or in other words, one hundredth the amount they were supposed to be getting before.
As an alternative, it should be illegal for the taxing authority to sell it for any less than the assessed value. If no bid reaches that minimum, then they have to adjust the valuation and the assessment, and give the original homeowner a chance to pay the adjusted taxes.
The worst part about these seized home sales... I have tried to get into the auctions, you can't... the auctions are restricted to banks ONLY, who buy foreclosed homes in my area for as low as $1k, and then immediately list the home for sale at full market value. And yes, the bank keeps the money.
Are you freaking serious??? Are you saying that these auctions are not open to the public? That alone is enough to have every God damned sale at these auctions invaluable.
In my experience, if the house is being sold in a foreclosual sale, the bank will bid what is owned to it, not a cent more. The Banks do this for anything above that amount goes to the landowner NOT the bank (unless they are other liens on the house and in many cases there are, such liens which are removed at the foreclosual sale so often these Júnior lien holders outbid the senior lien holders, just to preserve they lien on the property).
Tyler v Hennepin only holds that the equity theft part is unconstitutional. The city has to give her the remaining money after the taxes are paid. It is a SCOTUS holding, so it is LAW
With all of the people looking for an affordable place to live, with all of the people looking to buy income property, with all of the corporations looking to own massive swaths of homes, the top bid for a two-family structure was only a little over $3,000? Nope, doesn't pass the stink test. This was either the most secret of all auctions, or racketeering levels of collusion, or a little of both. edit: And being from a town very near Worcester MA, a.k.a. "Wormtown", I completely believe that there was a backroom deal going on.
Idk Mass but in some States a deal too good to be true is evidence of knowingly buying stolen goods. I am guessing 300k is the assessed value not the mark to market. But we agree, she gets the 297k.
Or like in NY with Rossman (right to repair guy) they made up some address and send the letters there than accuse him of not responding. Than again what they accuse him is also made up.
This is out of control. These people in government have to be held accountable by us the people because they are not going to hold themselves accountable
Cruel and Unusual Punishment. 3k debt, vs 300k house. That sounds like a very unusual, and more importantly, a very CRUEL Punishment for not paying Taxes. Cause aren't there other ways they can get that money? I mean the IRS literally has direct access to your paychecks from work, Bank Account, and can sue you. Them able to just take your home and sell it sounds VERY wrong. In fact, I question how old that law is. Cause I bet in 1773 when the country was founded, that the founding fathers, and people in that time, would NEVER allow the government to take Land. EVERY. Under ANY situation. They ceised her land, as well, not just the home, where is her Just Compensation?
Is it me are has governmwnt become a voracious monster desperate to suck up as much wealth from the citizens it supposedly is there to serve. I'm guessing the bigger government gets the harder it is to keep it fed and the more it feeds off it's citizens the less money it can actually legally get as we are forced into poverty.
If even 2 people knew about that auction's existence, the price would have been bid MUCH higher. I'm not saying this is a case of someone in government calling his or her buddy or relative and selling the house under the table, but I'm saying this is a case of someone in government calling his or her buddy or relative and selling the house under the table. Also the "new owner" is absolutely uninterested in the property, will never even go there, has no idea what's inside, and will flip it for 20x profit.
not really, the ten people at the auction, all preselected and happens to be friends of someone arrive the auction of ten houses, all 10% or less the value of the houses, and everyone just choose what they want, pay the minimum, and goes home with a nice new home or investment.
Whenever you hear about fully paid off homes being auction for 1% of their value, you know it is an inside sale. There was one in Texas that was similar. Except it was HOA fees I believe. But same scenario home was paid off. Sold at auction for the exact amount owed (essentially one bid). The "buyer" immediately sold it (like 10 days later) for almost full value. Selling it immediately is to make it harder to get back - and make the profit. Yes that was an active duty military member (stationed in a hot sandy area overseas) that was protected by law from this happening. That case hit the news and disappeared when that came to light. Because the guy was "compensated" and I am sure had to sign an NDA.
Steve, even if you DO pay, they can steal your house. I paid my property taxes, I OVERPAID the taxes, paid all fees, penalties, interest, attorney fees, and redemption and they STILL have my house AND my money!!! Currently sitting in the 9th Texas Court of Appeals...
@@JP-gi7dw Voting has jack to do with it. I could be wrong but I have never seen a good politician. I have never seen a politician advocate for abolishing property taxes. Even if they did advocate for it, they werent popular enough to gain enough influence or power to change it. Politicians are just pitting the Democrats and Republicans against each other, playing popularity contests, and laughing their happy asses to the bank. I really enjoyed that raid on the whitehouse. The people should have the power to revolt. It is literally in the 2nd amendment that its up to the people to take a Tyrannical government down, but of course its not something anyone is really willing to do.
Didn't the supreme court rule unanimously back in March that states that seize and sell private property to recoup unpaid taxes violate the Constitution's takings clause if they retain more than what the taxpayer owed?
I had a similar thing happen to my fathers house when he passed. I was sent a notice that my father owed money on a personal loan that wasnt on his credit report. The bank took the house, "auctioned it" to a friend, then sent me notice of the auction. They said they did what was required and put it in the paper, but the auction was held the day before the announcement. 100k house sold for 2500$ to a friend of the banker. Tried to get something done, but the local justice system was a boys club joke. Hope they rot in hell.
Yep, this kind of thing happens all over. A little less than it used to, but it still does. They find legal loopholes which force you to prove wrongdoing, which is neigh impossible, and even if you do the auction is just reversed and redone and no one is punished for the fraud they are committing. So the incur no risk to themselves unless prosecutors get out of the club.
@@lextacy2008 I had a car repossessed once. I volunteered for the repo, as my ex-wife had run it out of oil and threw a piston through the engine block. A replacement rebuilt engine, installed, would have cost more than the repaired blue-book value of the car, so I just stopped making payments and called the bank to ask them to begin repo proceedings. My credit rating was already garbage, thanks to the engine-killer, so very little worse could have happened to me.
In South Carolina, if your property is sold at a tax auction, you have a year to redeem it before the sale becomes finalized. You do have to pay a small surcharge that goes to the buyer
Perhaps.. but.. are you INFORMED that you're now on borrowed time? IT seems like the biggest issue in this story is the severe lack of communication. That SC law isnt going to solve that problem if nobody tells the owner.
@@lyianx They nail a delinquency notice up when you are 30 days late. They also put one on the door. The sheriff's office makes sure you can't miss it.
Same in Nevada. The original owner has right of redemption. New owner in this case should at least let her live there rent free until she dies. I've heard that happening.
There's no way that this was sold for just over $3K at a publically available auction; they're parsing words. In my opinion, this is assuradly a no-bid agreement with this buyer.
Tax liens are different as they only relate to the taxes. If you go and pay 3k tax lien on a 200k property and the property has a 250k other liens or strange deed requirements, you're forced to walk away thus you just paid the person's taxes. That's generally how tax auctions work. The people who don't pay their taxes don't because they know they can get away.
@@reubensandwich9249 The story mentioned the mortgage was paid off. It appears the city legally stole $197,000 from the woman while collecting a $3,000 debt which likely means there either needs to be court intervention if it wasn't entirely legal or changes to the law to avoid this kind of abuse.
@@theyaden I got back from work and did some digging on this story. Another news agency said she bought the house for $67,000 in 1996, paid off the mortgage in 2015 via the Recorder of deeds. That checks out, but then goes on to mention a $26,000 tax bill. The article didn't mention if there were any liens other than the taxes. Still looks like Carmen Rodriguez at least wasn't paying her fair share. Also, go back to what I originally said. I said "liens" not mortgage. I looked into buying tax lien sales 15 years ago until I realized all I would be doing was spending money on a title search. The majority had liens worth more than the house and another had the occupant was granted a lifetime estate in the deed so they stopped paying their taxes.
What's disgusting is how many people in Massachusetts that think "we protect people's rights in our state." I lived there for well over 18 years of my life and I can safely say they take the rights away from people more than every other state I've lived in to include New Mexico, Arizona, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Texas, and yes, even Mississippi.
They were notified of every tax twice. Like with every tax. If they can prove they weren't notified. There's a case. Otherwise they don't have rights. They skipped their responsibility to pay tax. This is a classic way to acquire property near the water
how come nobody is asking if the 3k in tax was even justified in the 1st place, i know for me, my tax bill adjusted 8% for 4 years straight until last year and then we recievced a 15% increase with no explaination
@@gretchenk.2516exactly… i usually state it with my bear repellant rock… While living in Paris I always carried my bear repellant rock. And I was never attacked by any bear… And nowadays the logic also work for the couf19… the marketting last line of defense being that if people didn’t have the bigger complication from some couf they at first were told they could not catch was thanks to the v4ccine. With the same logic and as much medical knowlegde I can easily claim that the v4xx prevented me from getting a flat tire for the last 2-3 years… The history books in the next 20-30 year are going to be brutal…
We had a similar situation in a small town next to us. The town was taking houses and selling them for a fraction of the value to a real estate company owned by the mayor. In one case, they waited until an elderly person went in for scheduled surgery before starting proceedings. At least, that's what I was told by town protesters.
I know in FL that they do this same thing. However, the tax collectors send the “private” details to their own companies and other investors. They do this all the time!
They tried to do this at my grandma's lake house.(not rich my grandpa worked his ass off to fix an old trailer up and put on a plot of land near a small lake in the middle of nowhere) my grandfather had passed away earlier that year and my grandmother was in the hospital hallucinating and seeing burning men walk through her room. She died a few months later. My mom accidentally found out about it going through old mail because they had sent one notice that they needed to mow. Turns out they were sending a crew out to mow for you and charging $180 plus fines every time you didn't pay. This happened for months with only one notice sent. Be careful for Howardwick TX and the abatement lady. She never once said she was an inspector and pretended to be interested in the property so she could get inside and find even more stuff to try and fine us for. She had done it to multiple other properties by the time we found out and somehow kept her job even though it was clearly fraud. Don't take old poor people's stuff just because the bad law lets you and you want an easy bag.
Great minds think alike! They have raised the taxes so high where I live, been a homeowner for over 40 years. Downsized 17 years ago to a small home. Senior citizens on fixed income. Caretaker to husband. Now can't afford our home. Thoughts in my head I've never had before. Like if we can't have our home, neither will the communist govt.
This case should at the very least be fought on due process. She needed to be on notice that the house was being repossessed and the date of the auction as the last day to remedy. I'm willing to bet that someone running the auction house bought her house without actually putting it up for auction and provided no notice in order to keep the value low.
This was happening in Lake County IL until they caught the treasurer giving a few friends access to secret auctions held before the normal tax lean auctions.
This one really takes the cake. I think there was some collusion between the Auction and the buyers to get it at a cheap price. They need to expose this this treachery and someone needs to go to jail.
My brother lost his land and property because the bank foreclosed when he fell behind on a refi. The buyer paid half of what it was worth, he just had to pay off the debt. He was "kind" enough to let my brother continue to rent the property.
How does the government not have to send the homeowner a notarized (a letter that requires a signature) before selling her house? That way the homeowner cant say she didn't know taxes were past due.
She only owed 3k on a 300k house in Ma? The tax rate in Worcester is $14.34 per $1,000 of assessed value.. This house can't be assessed anywhere near 300K. Was it condemned? Was it for only one year or less of taxes? This is fishy on multiple levels.
Why bash America over this? Most of the world's countries assess property tax. Yes, there are a handful of countries that don't, but the vast majority do.
Welcome to Capitalism where everything is a commodity for sale to create the maximum profits.. Soon enough, the BANKERS will OWN EVERYTHING and you will OWN NOTHING but be 😊😊.. 😂😂
"What is 'right' is not always legal, and what is 'legal' is not always right." -- LTDunlap (1910-1987)... [ a saying from my ol' Irish granddad; you have my permission to use it in your witty outros!] Blessed Be, & Peace! 🙏☮
People are doing this to homeowners in Hawaii and sometimes the homes they sell are from multigenerational households; so they’re evicting several people.
@@livingcountry just wait until you realize the American people don't put anyone into office. Votes mean nothing. If voting changed anything, they wouldn't let us do it.
I wouldnt feel right about that at all. I heard the comment about the elderly woman and I had something like that happen to me recently. Lady next door, lovely neighbor, gave me a couple stuffed animals for the grandkids. Both bought some years ago and still new in package. Once home one of the other kids was curious and looked up the value of them and one was a rare collectors edition and valued about $2500. The other wasnt worth anything. I took the one back to the neighbor and explained it to her and they I could not accept it. She thanked me for my honestly and had no clue the value of the item and gave it to her grand daughter to do with as she pleased. Keep or sell.
As soon as you said Massachusetts, I knew what the problem was. We don't call it Taxachusetts for nothing. Such practices should obviously be outlawed but it will never happen so long as unscrupulous politicians are in office. This goes hand in hand with their "laws" regarding registration of vehicles that operate over 30 days in the State.
If you think this happens only in blue areas of blue states you'd be wrong. This also happens in rural areas where no local democrat has been elected in decades, as well as affluent suburbs run by republicans. This is a "both parties" grift.
I am reminded of the story I heard of a man who drove past a valuable muscle car sitting uncared for in an elderly woman's yard, every day going to and from work. one day, he decided it should at least be washed and waxed. when the lady asked why he was doing it, he told her he couldn't bear to see an iconic car neglected. over time, they developed a relationship, and at the end, she told him she had kids who were waiting for her to die so they could fight over the car - so she wanted to give it to him, because he actually made an effort to care for it.
I love it! Entitlement seems to be today's game tho. I have some of my own entitled little grandbrats. I can tell you that they weren't raised like that. Social media must be a helluva thing. They are still young enuff to learn better tho.
OH, what a lovely story. I have an elderly neighbor who's son is, how shall I say this, less than honest and is known to crave the 'Devil's Lettuce' (among heavier things). Expensive tools, over a thousand dollars worth, showed up missing from the neighbor's garage right after a visit from the son (son has tried it since, and Sheriff's office had to be called). They were probably sold to pay for more "Lettuce". I so want to buy his farmland and house, which is across the street from my family farm, and give him a lifetime estate to use and to live there. When he dies and his son thinks he is gonna get the property in the Will... OOPS - he can't acquire it because his father hasn't owned the property for years. When I was very young I spent tons of time visiting the people in that house, them being shirttail relatives of ours, an I remember the boy and he was a little 💩 even back 47 years ago when I was 5.
@@roseblite6449 I dont see anything wrong with the so called devils lettuce. However stealing stuff from innocent civilians like a neighbor is definitely wrong.
Way too much corruption in our Government. There should be rules that protect the delinquent property owner from greedy or corrupt Government officials who profit from tax delinquents. Like not being able too sale the property until the delinquent bill reaches half of the appraisal value.
I remember the late night infomercials pitching the get-rich-quick scheme of buying tax liens. They never tell you about who gets screwed. If you are making 10,000% on your investment, someone is getting screwed.
Many idiotic things happened in Massachusetts. I received recently a bill for excise tax for a car that has never been registered to Massachusetts, I do not live in Massachusetts, as a matter of fact I live in Florida. I called the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and nobody knows anything, they cannot give me a straight answer. Incompetence at its best.
The fact the city sold it for 1/100 its value is also an issue, was this one of those public auctions where there was only one bidder because the notice as posted in a basement behind a locked door? I don't think its the Council being ripped off, I think its good old fashioned corruption. Auction house gives 50K as a perfectly legal Campaign Contribution and when tax auctions come up, strangely they are the only ones who know its happening, oh and there is no reserve.
I'm having a thought here. I propose a Federal law to require a 75% reserve minimum bid to (at least moderately) level the outside bidders offers. The taxpayer and direct family members should be exempt from this. Any funds raised in excess of the taxes owed shall be returned to the taxpayer; who shall have a 1 year period to make the tax liability current. I'd like to see discussion on this.
@@davidh9638 homesteads should be tax free. We are taxed through every other aspect of life, you should be able to own your home/land without fear of it being taken from you.
What would you replace property tax with then in order to fund local government? The tax would need to be replaced with something else otherwise local government goes bankrupt
You are telling me that there was NO other remedy for the back taxes? They could not garnish an future salary, seize a savings account, force a pre-retirement IRA sale, or force or allow for a reverse mortgage? Selling someone's house out from under them is egregious.
In Missouri, you have to be behind for 3 years. Then they list it for auction. The "owner" (do you really own it, if you have to pay someone annually to keep it?) Can make a payment at any time to stop the process for another year. After it is auctioned, the "owner" or anyone else who has a financial interest can redeem it by paying the full amount of the auction. (Then the auction winner gets his money back.) If they don't pay, the winner has to do a title search, and notify everyone who has an interest in the property. If nobody redeems the property, the winner can then can sue for a quiet title.
Thank you Steve for raising this issue again. I'm a MA resident. I used this as the kick in the butt I needed to write to my state congress critters to address the issue. What I also found particularly interesting is that if I understood "General Laws Part I Title IX Chapter 60 Section 79: Sale without foreclosure; inquiries" of the MA code correctly then this sale to Tallage LLC let's Tallage do something in terms of equity that the city of Worcester could not do. (But, not being an expert in this I may be reading it wrong.) At least it seems like the MA State Attorney General is against this practice.
Im originally from MA. This is happening more then you know.not just for taxes. I've witnessed a building inspector take 2 homes in Medford ma.!!!!! They target immigrants who don't know their rights
The really horrible part is that if they sell your 100k home over 5k debt and keep all 100k, the previous home owner can still be liable for any loans against the house.
In some States, even after someone buys your property in a tax lien sale, you still have a chance to pay the 'new' owner what they paid, plus some type of fees. It usually happens with property that the owner doesn't care about, or realized it's unusable crap land.
Either the city owes the difference between the assessed value and the tax delinquency, or the state owes refunds for years of back taxes on the excessive assessed home value. They can't have this both ways.
That sounds like theft dressed up to look like a loophole.They should find out if the buyer is related to or works for someone in the tax collecting agency.
That is definitely a good point Steve they may want to investigate the auction portion of this whole deal... Did they say how much it sold for? Because if it went for that ridiculously low price then quite possibly something fishy was going on.
Far too often, equity in the law is left on the floor in favor of precedent or people simply saying “that’s just the way we’ve always done it“. Steve, keep making great content.
Heres the thing, the law isn't always morally right. This is why we should change laws, repeal laws that are wrong morally, and try our hardest to reform our government. Unfortunately there are a lot of bad actors in the government that will pass laws to enrich themselves at the cost of others.
The buyer says this was equitable for everyone. That's how you know it stinks. Yes everyone should par their taxes. I say that with the ability to pay them. Job loss and medical bills can change that in a heartbeat. Another thing is that was a 300k house and a tax bill of 3k, what is that 1 years taxes? I doubt property taxes are cheaper than other places. If she was paying it down then why sell?
I like how we do this in Indiana. You have to be behind 3 full cycles. Which is 18 months. You receive multiple notices and it is posted in the paper long before the sale. Any plan for repayment will reset the clock as long as you follow it. Once it sells you have a full year to still pay the taxes and penalties and get your house back before the buyer can move forward with actually getting any kind of title, or even come onto the property. If the person does not redeem their house by paying the back taxes and penalties they get all surplus over that amount within a few weeks. Source: I am a Real Estate Broker who has also worked for the County Auditors office in the past. Until this year my largest client was an entity that specialized in Tax sale properties. I will also say that about half the time my particular client would even work with the person living in the house (if their was one) to give them the option to say there and purchase it back. The only reason I was ok with working in this part of the industry was the care my client took and the protections my state has for the owners at risk of losing their house. I will also say that probably 8/10 of the properties they purchased were abandoned.
@@TheElectronicaman No. That isn't how it works. Taxes have been a thing almost as long as we have had civilized society. Yes even here in the US we had taxes from the start. The constitution unequivicably gives congress the power to tax us. And in fact the first estate taxes predate the formation of any official government here in the US. We never have and never will live in the libertarian fantasy world of no taxes and no laws.
I think its 3 years in MS'sippi and you still can pay the back taxes and fees even after it is purchased for a certain amount of time, and get it back. It used to be 7 years. A few years ago someone in the tax office was keeping the money and a bunch of peoples properties got sold. Said person got arrested. I'm not sure if they recovered the paid taxes, but they allowed anyone over 3 years that HAD NOT paid their taxes to pay them even if it had been sold and recover their property. And if you had your receipts that you had paid your taxes, you kept your property. BUT Some receipts had wrong addresses. I'm not sure what they did about that either. There is no local newspaper. We paid the backtaxes on a riverfront camp/home, that had been sold, for a family friend, and she let us stay in it for a year, while we remodeled our own home. It was 2 years behind, but the first year had been paid on the wrong address, about 8 miles downriver. The criminal part is, that the taxes are based on 'riverfront property/house', at 100,000.00 value. This 'riverfront' property is about 1/3 of an acre, and is water, mud and swamp. It cost less than 10,000.00 to build it. It was basic necessity type build. It does have electricity , well water, and internet. The house/camp continuosly needs work due to rot, tree limbs, or trees crashing into it at high water, or water damage. Highwater means, to get there, by boat. Low water means mud boots and keep a keen eye for snakes. We had thought about purchasing the property, but it is a money pit and highly inconvenient, even as a camp. I checked tax records and even the empty mud lots are taxed at about 1000.00 a year.
Taxes need to be paid for basic things the government does. And land taxes are basically the most fair tax you can develop. This case has loads of problems, but the existence of taxes is a base part of life. If the government goes away, a private government (a HOA in steroids) appears and you often can't vote them out.
@@letsburn00 The problem is the tax is based on the value of the property, so as property values rise, as they historically have been doing since the very first tax assessment, property owners are being taxed on unrealized value.
@@Cakebattered that's actually the best part of the tax. The increase in property value was not worked for. The person who owns it didn't create the value, they get all the money though.
No way the property went to a publicly advertised auction and sold for 3K. This was an insider deal, like the auto impound auctions in Florida. Gainesville police were angry when my brother and I went to bid on impounded vehicles after I saw a notice for it on a bulletin board in the hallway at the police station after they towed my car. The only other people at the auction were cops. Seized vehicles in Florida go to auctions that only the cops who impounded them are invited to. We bought two old motorcycles the cops didn't want anyway and were allowed to leave without incident.
I would also like to know if the buyer has any friends in the tax office because, it seems unreasonable to believe no one else wouldn't have bid more on a 300k house.
Cases like this make me think of how those that scheme the elderly or weak will eventually cross paths with the wrong person or family that settles things a different way.
I think so too, my mortgage was sold and the tax payment was paid late. I got it paid right after the delinquency notice so it never went to auction. That is how I became aware of the law. I faxed the bill and the new company paid it , they had to pay the late fee. I call every year now to be sure. I have had the same company for about the last 10 years.
@@Vamoosoreally.. Who are you to say it's unconstitutional?? How many times did you VOTE for narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths that don't obey the constitution to be your masters?? 😂😂
When a city "notifies" an owner it should only be by hand serving them by sheriff. They can send multiple notices by mail that the owner won't receive because they could be in a long term care facility. The city should have to prove that the owner was served. A 60cent stamp is not proof that they were served.
You got me fuuuucked up if i spend a whole 30 years or 20 years paying off an entire house, never falling behind on the mortgage payments or taxes. Then after i pay off the 300,000$ house plus all the additional for the mortgage so like 420k. Then i get hurt and am unable to cover taxes one year then before i could get to paying it they try and kick me out of the house i paid off.. you better believe im popping heads until they pop mine…. Damn right.. im taking out a few lives after they take mine for working for something they took away.. aint gonna happen..
It's a win for local taxpayers in order to get the property back on the tax rolls. The process should include TONS of hoops for the municipality and any debt buyer. But, people should pay their taxes. Full stop.
It appears this wasn't a sale of the house by the city but sale of the tax lien. This appeared to have happened in 2019. At some point after that the private tax lien owner then started foreclosure proceedings. I think this is different than the recent Supreme Court case where a city kept the difference between how much they sold a house for and how much the previous owner owed them. I think this explains why the auction didn't result in a higher amount being paid out. The owner of the tax lien had more work to do before they actually own the house.
I can't speak for anywhere else, but how it works in Colorado: You have 1 year to pay your property tax debt. After 1 year, you debt becomes a security and is auctioned. Once your debt is auctioned, you now owe the person who bought the debt. If you pay off the debt, nothing else happens. If the debt is unpaid for 3 years (and the purchaser of the debt has paid the subsequent property tax over that period of time) then the purchaser of the debt can file to take possession of the property. In this instance, a potential $3000 debt becomes ownership of a $300,000 house. Important rules: * The house must be owned (mortgage companies in Colorado do not tend to allow property tax to be paid separately) * Once the debt is purchased, the purchaser MUST pay the subsequent property taxes while the debt is outstanding * The county must notify that the debt is purchased as well as provide information on how to pay the debt and what is owed * At any time, the homeowner can pay the debt in full (or make payments) to the purchaser of the debt. This includes subsequent taxes owed. The house DOES NOT become property of the county and the house is not auctioned, just the debt. Once there is a court filing to take possession of the house, any and all current liens against the house are cancelled. The buyer of the debt becomes the owner of the house. I believe this is called "Adverse Possession". If the house is worth $300,000, that full value belongs to the new owner of the house.
2 years ago I read something about a little old lady who’s house almost got taken from her over a penny if I worked in the office that handled that I would’ve just went out to my truck and grabbed a penny and paid it myself
Any time a governmental agency is incentivized to obtain property/cash through asset forfeiture and/or foreclosure - they will abuse that process and victims be damned.
@@stevenstrain283Bad either way imo, especially if/when theft is involved (i.e. taxes). The video however specifies that she was not properly notified, not that it was wrong for her to be evicted.
@@stevenstrain283 Property taxes are a disgusting concept, anyway. You pay taxes when you buy something -- being continually taxed for "owning" something (because you never own something in this scenario) is vile.
@@mage1439 Not to mention they constantly raise real estate taxes based on nothing but theory.
@@stevenstrain283how's the 🥾🥾 taste today?? 😂😂
@barelyillegal2866well, let's keep VOTING then HOPE for CHANGE.. 😂😂
In a follow-up story, we'll learn that the house was sold in a closed, private auction to which only close relatives of the mayor were invited. This is ridiculous.
A 300,000 dollar home was sold for 3,400 bucks???? Something very shady is happening in that town.
You should go to the city's auction, you can tell who got the "advanced" auction list.
the one who bought the home should be investigated.
Relative or old friend of a city employee no doubt.
This is the city of Worcester. Obviously some shady business is going on. $300k is cheap for a home, even there. $3,400 though? Worcester is a new hotbed for home buying and home values have risen significantly over the past 5 years.
Most lawyers really do need to have their work approved by a committee of citizens, because they are so whored out by greed, they pox everything they touch and ugly out their communites.
Taking someones home away from them and giving it to someone else for literally pennies on the dollar is disgusting. If it was anyone other than the government it would already be criminal
Nah.. who do you think own the government?? You?? 😂😂
Not pennies on the dollar it was literally 1 cent per dollar..and sold not auctioned
Bait harder @@JP-gi7dw
Just because the government did it, doesn't mean that it isn't criminal. They are criminals.
@@duanesamuelson2256 Exactly what I was going to say
If the property is only worth $3,300, then the state/city should be repaying the property taxes she's been paying based on the $300,000 value.
I was thinking along a similar line, the new owner (as garbage as they are) should only be charged taxes in the amount based on the new value of 3300. Or in other words, one hundredth the amount they were supposed to be getting before.
Tyler v Hennepin County
That was my thought exactly.
THIS!
As an alternative, it should be illegal for the taxing authority to sell it for any less than the assessed value. If no bid reaches that minimum, then they have to adjust the valuation and the assessment, and give the original homeowner a chance to pay the adjusted taxes.
The worst part about these seized home sales... I have tried to get into the auctions, you can't... the auctions are restricted to banks ONLY, who buy foreclosed homes in my area for as low as $1k, and then immediately list the home for sale at full market value. And yes, the bank keeps the money.
Are you freaking serious???
Are you saying that these auctions are not open to the public? That alone is enough to have every God damned sale at these auctions invaluable.
"Forfeiture" is the world for legalized theft
In my experience, if the house is being sold in a foreclosual sale, the bank will bid what is owned to it, not a cent more. The Banks do this for anything above that amount goes to the landowner NOT the bank (unless they are other liens on the house and in many cases there are, such liens which are removed at the foreclosual sale so often these Júnior lien holders outbid the senior lien holders, just to preserve they lien on the property).
@@albertstephen2426they are for the most part he's lying. I've been to a tax deed auction
Tax sales are not they are done on the steps of court house now bank foreclosure is different
I hope that this is ruled to be an illegal sale, and this woman gets her house back. This is theft.
Tyler v Hennepin only holds that the equity theft part is unconstitutional. The city has to give her the remaining money after the taxes are paid. It is a SCOTUS holding, so it is LAW
All taxes are theft
With all of the people looking for an affordable place to live, with all of the people looking to buy income property, with all of the corporations looking to own massive swaths of homes, the top bid for a two-family structure was only a little over $3,000?
Nope, doesn't pass the stink test.
This was either the most secret of all auctions, or racketeering levels of collusion, or a little of both.
edit: And being from a town very near Worcester MA, a.k.a. "Wormtown", I completely believe that there was a backroom deal going on.
Won't happen. Best she's getting is money. A tax sale is final.
Idk Mass but in some States a deal too good to be true is evidence of knowingly buying stolen goods. I am guessing 300k is the assessed value not the mark to market. But we agree, she gets the 297k.
How can they claim that someone that is forced to leave through eviction has abandoned the house!
The buyer has to be working with the city in doing this. Sounds like a ring of thieves.
I was thinking they were in cahoots.
This sounds like it. I also suspect an alternative is someone has been stealing her mail and removed all the notices.
@@letsburn00that sounds very feasible,
Or like in NY with Rossman (right to repair guy) they made up some address and send the letters there than accuse him of not responding. Than again what they accuse him is also made up.
It's called a racket.. and welcome to capitalism.. 😂😂
Well done. You're absolutely pronouncing Worcester correctly.
This brings to mind what my grandma told me. One time, she said just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.
Correct. After all mass murder was legal in Nazi Germany, but it certainly wasn't right.
Did your grandma tell you to VOTE?? 😂😂
That is not the point.
As much as legal doesn't make it right, being right doesn't make it legal. Conundrums of life.
@@LadyAdakStillStands nah.. Life is hard when you don't know how things really work.. 😂😂
Surely under the law of Equity no one should loose out in this way, it actually smacks of a form of fraud in my opinion.
Fraud and extortion.
It's called unjust enrichment.
This is out of control. These people in government have to be held accountable by us the people because they are not going to hold themselves accountable
Cruel and Unusual Punishment. 3k debt, vs 300k house. That sounds like a very unusual, and more importantly, a very CRUEL Punishment for not paying Taxes. Cause aren't there other ways they can get that money? I mean the IRS literally has direct access to your paychecks from work, Bank Account, and can sue you. Them able to just take your home and sell it sounds VERY wrong.
In fact, I question how old that law is. Cause I bet in 1773 when the country was founded, that the founding fathers, and people in that time, would NEVER allow the government to take Land. EVERY. Under ANY situation. They ceised her land, as well, not just the home, where is her Just Compensation?
What do you plan to do? Overthrow them? Good luck with that.
I'm convinced the 'people' in government aren't really people at all, but evil cyborgs.
She'll win back the remaining money only - Tyler v Hennepin County (SCOTUS)
Is it me are has governmwnt become a voracious monster desperate to suck up as much wealth from the citizens it supposedly is there to serve.
I'm guessing the bigger government gets the harder it is to keep it fed and the more it feeds off it's citizens the less money it can actually legally get as we are forced into poverty.
This should be illegal. This is so incredibly wrong.
If even 2 people knew about that auction's existence, the price would have been bid MUCH higher. I'm not saying this is a case of someone in government calling his or her buddy or relative and selling the house under the table, but I'm saying this is a case of someone in government calling his or her buddy or relative and selling the house under the table.
Also the "new owner" is absolutely uninterested in the property, will never even go there, has no idea what's inside, and will flip it for 20x profit.
Well, ish. If two people know about the auction and there are a couple of similar auctions, they can talk to each other and pay $6K not $600K.
not really, the ten people at the auction, all preselected and happens to be friends of someone arrive the auction of ten houses, all 10% or less the value of the houses, and everyone just choose what they want, pay the minimum, and goes home with a nice new home or investment.
Whenever you hear about fully paid off homes being auction for 1% of their value, you know it is an inside sale.
There was one in Texas that was similar. Except it was HOA fees I believe. But same scenario home was paid off. Sold at auction for the exact amount owed (essentially one bid). The "buyer" immediately sold it (like 10 days later) for almost full value.
Selling it immediately is to make it harder to get back - and make the profit.
Yes that was an active duty military member (stationed in a hot sandy area overseas) that was protected by law from this happening. That case hit the news and disappeared when that came to light. Because the guy was "compensated" and I am sure had to sign an NDA.
Steve, even if you DO pay, they can steal your house. I paid my property taxes, I OVERPAID the taxes, paid all fees, penalties, interest, attorney fees, and redemption and they STILL have my house AND my money!!! Currently sitting in the 9th Texas Court of Appeals...
What is the basis of claim?
And I bet you felt good each time you VOTED, right?? 😂😂
@@JP-gi7dw
Voting has jack to do with it.
I could be wrong but I have never seen a good politician.
I have never seen a politician advocate for abolishing property taxes.
Even if they did advocate for it, they werent popular enough to gain enough influence or power to change it.
Politicians are just pitting the Democrats and Republicans against each other, playing popularity contests, and laughing their happy asses to the bank.
I really enjoyed that raid on the whitehouse. The people should have the power to revolt. It is literally in the 2nd amendment that its up to the people to take a Tyrannical government down, but of course its not something anyone is really willing to do.
Didn't the supreme court rule unanimously back in March that states that seize and sell private property to recoup unpaid taxes violate the Constitution's takings clause if they retain more than what the taxpayer owed?
Yes! I believe you are correct. I recall that too.
Criminal doesn't care for the law.
I was thinking exactly the same thing. Can't remember if it was SCOTUS or a state supreme court, though.
@@dennisd9554it was. Scotus decision
Yes and Steve has a video about that case.
Perhaps the city's charter needs to be revoked.
I had a similar thing happen to my fathers house when he passed. I was sent a notice that my father owed money on a personal loan that wasnt on his credit report. The bank took the house, "auctioned it" to a friend, then sent me notice of the auction. They said they did what was required and put it in the paper, but the auction was held the day before the announcement. 100k house sold for 2500$ to a friend of the banker. Tried to get something done, but the local justice system was a boys club joke.
Hope they rot in hell.
Yep, this kind of thing happens all over. A little less than it used to, but it still does. They find legal loopholes which force you to prove wrongdoing, which is neigh impossible, and even if you do the auction is just reversed and redone and no one is punished for the fraud they are committing. So the incur no risk to themselves unless prosecutors get out of the club.
They do the same thing with car repossessions. They sell the car for way less than your equitable contribution with respect to blue book value
These are the same kinds of people who will go on tv news and tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
@@lextacy2008 I had a car repossessed once.
I volunteered for the repo, as my ex-wife had run it out of oil and threw a piston through the engine block. A replacement rebuilt engine, installed, would have cost more than the repaired blue-book value of the car, so I just stopped making payments and called the bank to ask them to begin repo proceedings.
My credit rating was already garbage, thanks to the engine-killer, so very little worse could have happened to me.
@@sd5919and how many times did you VOTE?? 😂😂
Steve,
You are a good man and a honest lawyer and
that's not an Oxymoron!
Cheers,
Rik Spector
You mean there are honest cops, judges, politicians, CEOs, BANKERS, lawyers, doctors, generals, preachers, kings, queens, media, sales people, etc..?? 😂😂
@@Gangsta1168 except that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely 😁
@@rikspector and who gave these narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths power?? GODS?? 😄😄
In South Carolina, if your property is sold at a tax auction, you have a year to redeem it before the sale becomes finalized. You do have to pay a small surcharge that goes to the buyer
That's a much better law.
Perhaps.. but.. are you INFORMED that you're now on borrowed time? IT seems like the biggest issue in this story is the severe lack of communication. That SC law isnt going to solve that problem if nobody tells the owner.
@@lyianx They nail a delinquency notice up when you are 30 days late. They also put one on the door. The sheriff's office makes sure you can't miss it.
Same in Nevada. The original owner has right of redemption.
New owner in this case should at least let her live there rent free until she dies. I've heard that happening.
Same in Indiana
Institute For Justice should be all over this!!
There's no way that this was sold for just over $3K at a publically available auction; they're parsing words. In my opinion, this is assuradly a no-bid agreement with this buyer.
The lien was sold to a private company for $3k. The lien holder then foreclosed and sold the house at auction, profiting approximately $100k.
Tax liens are different as they only relate to the taxes. If you go and pay 3k tax lien on a 200k property and the property has a 250k other liens or strange deed requirements, you're forced to walk away thus you just paid the person's taxes.
That's generally how tax auctions work. The people who don't pay their taxes don't because they know they can get away.
@@reubensandwich9249 The story mentioned the mortgage was paid off. It appears the city legally stole $197,000 from the woman while collecting a $3,000 debt which likely means there either needs to be court intervention if it wasn't entirely legal or changes to the law to avoid this kind of abuse.
@@theyaden And you believe every news story?
@@theyaden I got back from work and did some digging on this story. Another news agency said she bought the house for $67,000 in 1996, paid off the mortgage in 2015 via the Recorder of deeds. That checks out, but then goes on to mention a $26,000 tax bill. The article didn't mention if there were any liens other than the taxes. Still looks like Carmen Rodriguez at least wasn't paying her fair share.
Also, go back to what I originally said. I said "liens" not mortgage. I looked into buying tax lien sales 15 years ago until I realized all I would be doing was spending money on a title search. The majority had liens worth more than the house and another had the occupant was granted a lifetime estate in the deed so they stopped paying their taxes.
This is what's called, CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!
I can't help but wonder how different the "auction" might have been if the city had been owed $200k.
Not a difference.
If enough of these crooked politicians go to prison or in the ground this would stop.
The supply is endless…
What's disgusting is how many people in Massachusetts that think "we protect people's rights in our state." I lived there for well over 18 years of my life and I can safely say they take the rights away from people more than every other state I've lived in to include New Mexico, Arizona, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Texas, and yes, even Mississippi.
They were notified of every tax twice. Like with every tax. If they can prove they weren't notified. There's a case. Otherwise they don't have rights. They skipped their responsibility to pay tax. This is a classic way to acquire property near the water
how come nobody is asking if the 3k in tax was even justified in the 1st place, i know for me, my tax bill adjusted 8% for 4 years straight until last year and then we recievced a 15% increase with no explaination
@@gretchenk.2516exactly… i usually state it with my bear repellant rock…
While living in Paris I always carried my bear repellant rock. And I was never attacked by any bear…
And nowadays the logic also work for the couf19… the marketting last line of defense being that if people didn’t have the bigger complication from some couf they at first were told they could not catch was thanks to the v4ccine. With the same logic and as much medical knowlegde I can easily claim that the v4xx prevented me from getting a flat tire for the last 2-3 years…
The history books in the next 20-30 year are going to be brutal…
@@kellyyoung1665 that's what democrats do
I would bet that the buyer is connected to the tax assessor’s office by some means. Good ole boy system.😮
We had a similar situation in a small town next to us. The town was taking houses and selling them for a fraction of the value to a real estate company owned by the mayor. In one case, they waited until an elderly person went in for scheduled surgery before starting proceedings. At least, that's what I was told by town protesters.
In brazil the mayor forfeit a building, not a single debt or anything, pretty much stealing.
I know in FL that they do this same thing. However, the tax collectors send the “private” details to their own companies and other investors. They do this all the time!
What?? How can little DeSatan allowed this RACKET?? 😂😂
What is wrong with people that they'd even want to do something like that?
They tried to do this at my grandma's lake house.(not rich my grandpa worked his ass off to fix an old trailer up and put on a plot of land near a small lake in the middle of nowhere) my grandfather had passed away earlier that year and my grandmother was in the hospital hallucinating and seeing burning men walk through her room. She died a few months later. My mom accidentally found out about it going through old mail because they had sent one notice that they needed to mow. Turns out they were sending a crew out to mow for you and charging $180 plus fines every time you didn't pay. This happened for months with only one notice sent. Be careful for Howardwick TX and the abatement lady. She never once said she was an inspector and pretended to be interested in the property so she could get inside and find even more stuff to try and fine us for. She had done it to multiple other properties by the time we found out and somehow kept her job even though it was clearly fraud. Don't take old poor people's stuff just because the bad law lets you and you want an easy bag.
The city personnel need to go to jail; including the buyer.
Definitely NOT legal advice but If I found out I was being evicted from a home I owned the new owners would find a smoldering ruin in short order.
...but what if you are successful in court?
Lol. Definitely not legal advice.
Great minds think alike! They have raised the taxes so high where I live, been a homeowner for over 40 years. Downsized 17 years ago to a small home. Senior citizens on fixed income. Caretaker to husband. Now can't afford our home. Thoughts in my head I've never had before. Like if we can't have our home, neither will the communist govt.
This case should at the very least be fought on due process. She needed to be on notice that the house was being repossessed and the date of the auction as the last day to remedy. I'm willing to bet that someone running the auction house bought her house without actually putting it up for auction and provided no notice in order to keep the value low.
It's a tip, but not a pro-tip.
No chance to address grievance, that's criminal.
This was happening in Lake County IL until they caught the treasurer giving a few friends access to secret auctions held before the normal tax lean auctions.
Didn't the supreme court or a court of appeals just rule that this was illegal and against the takings clause?
This one really takes the cake. I think there was some collusion between the Auction and the buyers to get it at a cheap price. They need to expose this this treachery and someone needs to go to jail.
Didn't the Supreme Court just ruled on this very thing?
I can't believe this happened in Massachusetts. They have such a wonderful reputation for fair government rules and practices.
Taxatwoshits
Why can't the city just place a lien on the property? That's just heartless. Laws are not supposed to hurt people.
Thanks for clarifying "theft"!
I'm from Worcester, and this happened to our neighbor, who is different from the woman mentioned in the story. Not a one-off situation.
Anyone hear or see anything on the Marion, KS debacle? I wonder what will happen now that the state AG got involved.
My brother lost his land and property because the bank foreclosed when he fell behind on a refi. The buyer paid half of what it was worth, he just had to pay off the debt. He was "kind" enough to let my brother continue to rent the property.
How does the government not have to send the homeowner a notarized (a letter that requires a signature) before selling her house?
That way the homeowner cant say she didn't know taxes were past due.
I think you mean certified or registered mail.
They should have to do that trouble is who is going to enforce it against them?
She only owed 3k on a 300k house in Ma? The tax rate in Worcester is $14.34 per $1,000 of assessed value.. This house can't be assessed anywhere near 300K. Was it condemned? Was it for only one year or less of taxes? This is fishy on multiple levels.
In America, you never truly own your own home.
Why bash America over this? Most of the world's countries assess property tax. Yes, there are a handful of countries that don't, but the vast majority do.
You own nothing, except your life buddy. Sooner you realized this, better off you will be.
Welcome to Capitalism where everything is a commodity for sale to create the maximum profits.. Soon enough, the BANKERS will OWN EVERYTHING and you will OWN NOTHING but be 😊😊.. 😂😂
@@SomeOtherPaul because Americans think they're the only "free" country in the world.
"What is 'right' is not always legal, and what is 'legal' is not always right." -- LTDunlap (1910-1987)... [ a saying from my ol' Irish granddad; you have my permission to use it in your witty outros!] Blessed Be, & Peace! 🙏☮
People are doing this to homeowners in Hawaii and sometimes the homes they sell are from multigenerational households; so they’re evicting several people.
It’s time to realize the politicians we keep putting office are not working for the people. Only working for the rich and corporations!
Do you suppose that the most recent devastating fires in Hawaii had occurred because of Arson?
@@livingcountry just wait until you realize the American people don't put anyone into office.
Votes mean nothing.
If voting changed anything, they wouldn't let us do it.
@@k.o.h3599 so you didn't know VOTING is for people to give power, consent and legitimacy to their masters?? 😄😄😄
Law and Legality has NOTHING to do with the Morally Right and Wrong.
Yes, you pronounced it correctly Steve. My employer is based there.
As a non-Massachusettsian, I can't confirm that your employer is based there.
Steve Lehto, I hope you keep us updated as the woman/victim gets this travesty through the courts
I wouldnt feel right about that at all. I heard the comment about the elderly woman and I had something like that happen to me recently. Lady next door, lovely neighbor, gave me a couple stuffed animals for the grandkids. Both bought some years ago and still new in package. Once home one of the other kids was curious and looked up the value of them and one was a rare collectors edition and valued about $2500. The other wasnt worth anything. I took the one back to the neighbor and explained it to her and they I could not accept it. She thanked me for my honestly and had no clue the value of the item and gave it to her grand daughter to do with as she pleased. Keep or sell.
Who knew people feigning ignorance and refusing to pay tax debts are considered vulnerable.
As soon as you said Massachusetts, I knew what the problem was. We don't call it Taxachusetts for nothing. Such practices should obviously be outlawed but it will never happen so long as unscrupulous politicians are in office. This goes hand in hand with their "laws" regarding registration of vehicles that operate over 30 days in the State.
I heard a economic professor from mass say socialism was better than capitalism.
If you think this happens only in blue areas of blue states you'd be wrong. This also happens in rural areas where no local democrat has been elected in decades, as well as affluent suburbs run by republicans. This is a "both parties" grift.
No argument on the dual-party logic there. @@VulcanLogic
Property taxes should be done away with!
I am reminded of the story I heard of a man who drove past a valuable muscle car sitting uncared for in an elderly woman's yard, every day going to and from work. one day, he decided it should at least be washed and waxed. when the lady asked why he was doing it, he told her he couldn't bear to see an iconic car neglected. over time, they developed a relationship, and at the end, she told him she had kids who were waiting for her to die so they could fight over the car - so she wanted to give it to him, because he actually made an effort to care for it.
I love it! Entitlement seems to be today's game tho. I have some of my own entitled little grandbrats. I can tell you that they weren't raised like that. Social media must be a helluva thing. They are still young enuff to learn better tho.
OH, what a lovely story. I have an elderly neighbor who's son is, how shall I say this, less than honest and is known to crave the 'Devil's Lettuce' (among heavier things). Expensive tools, over a thousand dollars worth, showed up missing from the neighbor's garage right after a visit from the son (son has tried it since, and Sheriff's office had to be called). They were probably sold to pay for more "Lettuce". I so want to buy his farmland and house, which is across the street from my family farm, and give him a lifetime estate to use and to live there. When he dies and his son thinks he is gonna get the property in the Will... OOPS - he can't acquire it because his father hasn't owned the property for years. When I was very young I spent tons of time visiting the people in that house, them being shirttail relatives of ours, an I remember the boy and he was a little 💩 even back 47 years ago when I was 5.
They made a Clint Eastwood movie that was basically this, you know...
@@roseblite6449
I dont see anything wrong with the so called devils lettuce.
However stealing stuff from innocent civilians like a neighbor is definitely wrong.
Oh, don't blame the grass, we all know it was the flour he was after.
"Unreasonable search and seizure." seems applicable here.
I hope she wins, recovers emotionally, spiritually, and financially and many, many idiots lose their jobs.
Way too much corruption in our Government. There should be rules that protect the delinquent property owner from greedy or corrupt Government officials who profit from tax delinquents. Like not being able too sale the property until the delinquent bill reaches half of the appraisal value.
I remember the late night infomercials pitching the get-rich-quick scheme of buying tax liens. They never tell you about who gets screwed. If you are making 10,000% on your investment, someone is getting screwed.
Many idiotic things happened in Massachusetts. I received recently a bill for excise tax for a car that has never been registered to Massachusetts, I do not live in Massachusetts, as a matter of fact I live in Florida. I called the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and nobody knows anything, they cannot give me a straight answer. Incompetence at its best.
The fact the city sold it for 1/100 its value is also an issue, was this one of those public auctions where there was only one bidder because the notice as posted in a basement behind a locked door?
I don't think its the Council being ripped off, I think its good old fashioned corruption. Auction house gives 50K as a perfectly legal Campaign Contribution and when tax auctions come up, strangely they are the only ones who know its happening, oh and there is no reserve.
I'm having a thought here. I propose a Federal law to require a 75% reserve minimum bid to (at least moderately) level the outside bidders offers. The taxpayer and direct family members should be exempt from this. Any funds raised in excess of the taxes owed shall be returned to the taxpayer; who shall have a 1 year period to make the tax liability current. I'd like to see discussion on this.
Nah, obligate the auctions online, for at least 85% of blue book, that would easily do it
The Supreme Court has ruled on municipalities keeping the surplus of a tax sale - see Tyler v. Hennepin County
Right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness should include one home for tax free!!!
Or if not tax free, homesteaded and cannot be taken away. Lien can be collected when house is sold.
@@davidh9638 homesteads should be tax free. We are taxed through every other aspect of life, you should be able to own your home/land without fear of it being taken from you.
@@3SM20Pilotsoon enough, your masters will tax the air you breathe in the name of climate change.. 😂😂
What would you replace property tax with then in order to fund local government? The tax would need to be replaced with something else otherwise local government goes bankrupt
@@SkyTheAvali less government? Sales tax. City/state 10%. Feds 10% and that’s it.
You are telling me that there was NO other remedy for the back taxes? They could not garnish an future salary, seize a savings account, force a pre-retirement IRA sale, or force or allow for a reverse mortgage? Selling someone's house out from under them is egregious.
In Missouri, you have to be behind for 3 years. Then they list it for auction.
The "owner" (do you really own it, if you have to pay someone annually to keep it?) Can make a payment at any time to stop the process for another year.
After it is auctioned, the "owner" or anyone else who has a financial interest can redeem it by paying the full amount of the auction. (Then the auction winner gets his money back.)
If they don't pay, the winner has to do a title search, and notify everyone who has an interest in the property.
If nobody redeems the property, the winner can then can sue for a quiet title.
The best bet is the Buyer knows the right people in the government and they know the Buyer.
Thank you Steve for raising this issue again.
I'm a MA resident.
I used this as the kick in the butt I needed to write to my state congress critters to address the issue.
What I also found particularly interesting is that if I understood "General Laws Part I Title IX Chapter 60 Section 79: Sale without foreclosure; inquiries" of the MA code correctly then this sale to Tallage LLC let's Tallage do something in terms of equity that the city of Worcester could not do.
(But, not being an expert in this I may be reading it wrong.)
At least it seems like the MA State Attorney General is against this practice.
I too am a fellow MASSh0Ie.
I used this as the kick in the butt I needed to try to go to these auctions and buy some houses.
Im originally from MA. This is happening more then you know.not just for taxes. I've witnessed a building inspector take 2 homes in Medford ma.!!!!! They target immigrants who don't know their rights
The really horrible part is that if they sell your 100k home over 5k debt and keep all 100k, the previous home owner can still be liable for any loans against the house.
In some States, even after someone buys your property in a tax lien sale, you still have a chance to pay the 'new' owner what they paid, plus some type of fees. It usually happens with property that the owner doesn't care about, or realized it's unusable crap land.
Either the city owes the difference between the assessed value and the tax delinquency, or the state owes refunds for years of back taxes on the excessive assessed home value. They can't have this both ways.
Unjust enrichment?
That sounds like theft dressed up to look like a loophole.They should find out if the buyer is related to or works for someone in the tax collecting agency.
That is definitely a good point Steve they may want to investigate the auction portion of this whole deal...
Did they say how much it sold for?
Because if it went for that ridiculously low price then quite possibly something fishy was going on.
Being allowed to keep the excess sounds like enrichment to me. The buyers of these homes are in cahoots with the city. Needs an investigation
Far too often, equity in the law is left on the floor in favor of precedent or people simply saying “that’s just the way we’ve always done it“.
Steve, keep making great content.
Heres the thing, the law isn't always morally right. This is why we should change laws, repeal laws that are wrong morally, and try our hardest to reform our government. Unfortunately there are a lot of bad actors in the government that will pass laws to enrich themselves at the cost of others.
The buyer says this was equitable for everyone. That's how you know it stinks. Yes everyone should par their taxes. I say that with the ability to pay them. Job loss and medical bills can change that in a heartbeat. Another thing is that was a 300k house and a tax bill of 3k, what is that 1 years taxes? I doubt property taxes are cheaper than other places. If she was paying it down then why sell?
Let's get rid of foreclosure as a result for unpaid taxes, at least in _most_ cases!
I like how we do this in Indiana. You have to be behind 3 full cycles. Which is 18 months. You receive multiple notices and it is posted in the paper long before the sale. Any plan for repayment will reset the clock as long as you follow it. Once it sells you have a full year to still pay the taxes and penalties and get your house back before the buyer can move forward with actually getting any kind of title, or even come onto the property. If the person does not redeem their house by paying the back taxes and penalties they get all surplus over that amount within a few weeks.
Source: I am a Real Estate Broker who has also worked for the County Auditors office in the past. Until this year my largest client was an entity that specialized in Tax sale properties.
I will also say that about half the time my particular client would even work with the person living in the house (if their was one) to give them the option to say there and purchase it back.
The only reason I was ok with working in this part of the industry was the care my client took and the protections my state has for the owners at risk of losing their house.
I will also say that probably 8/10 of the properties they purchased were abandoned.
Property Taxes and any taxes should not fucking exist PERIOD!!!
@@TheElectronicaman No. That isn't how it works. Taxes have been a thing almost as long as we have had civilized society. Yes even here in the US we had taxes from the start.
The constitution unequivicably gives congress the power to tax us. And in fact the first estate taxes predate the formation of any official government here in the US.
We never have and never will live in the libertarian fantasy world of no taxes and no laws.
@@TheElectronicaman I know, right? Schools, roads and public services are SOOOO overrated!
@@dennisd9554 Except for roads, you are probably correct.
I think its 3 years in MS'sippi and you still can pay the back taxes and fees even after it is purchased for a certain amount of time, and get it back. It used to be 7 years. A few years ago someone in the tax office was keeping the money and a bunch of peoples properties got sold. Said person got arrested. I'm not sure if they recovered the paid taxes, but they allowed anyone over 3 years that HAD NOT paid their taxes to pay them even if it had been sold and recover their property. And if you had your receipts that you had paid your taxes, you kept your property. BUT Some receipts had wrong addresses. I'm not sure what they did about that either. There is no local newspaper. We paid the backtaxes on a riverfront camp/home, that had been sold, for a family friend, and she let us stay in it for a year, while we remodeled our own home. It was 2 years behind, but the first year had been paid on the wrong address, about 8 miles downriver. The criminal part is, that the taxes are based on 'riverfront property/house', at 100,000.00 value. This 'riverfront' property is about 1/3 of an acre, and is water, mud and swamp. It cost less than 10,000.00 to build it. It was basic necessity type build. It does have electricity , well water, and internet. The house/camp continuosly needs work due to rot, tree limbs, or trees crashing into it at high water, or water damage. Highwater means, to get there, by boat. Low water means mud boots and keep a keen eye for snakes. We had thought about purchasing the property, but it is a money pit and highly inconvenient, even as a camp. I checked tax records and even the empty mud lots are taxed at about 1000.00 a year.
Equity theft. The only thing they should be able to do is put a lien on the home. Real estate taxes dont have anything to do with ability to pay
If we own our house paid in full, we should not be made (Forced) to pay taxes.
Taxes need to be paid for basic things the government does. And land taxes are basically the most fair tax you can develop. This case has loads of problems, but the existence of taxes is a base part of life. If the government goes away, a private government (a HOA in steroids) appears and you often can't vote them out.
The taxes go towards street cleaning and repairs (for example) and has nothing to do with any loans on the property.
All taxes were originally based on property or flat fees. Income tax is a relatively recent invention in history.
@@letsburn00 The problem is the tax is based on the value of the property, so as property values rise, as they historically have been doing since the very first tax assessment, property owners are being taxed on unrealized value.
@@Cakebattered that's actually the best part of the tax. The increase in property value was not worked for. The person who owns it didn't create the value, they get all the money though.
This is what people were trying to tell you when they say you never own your home
here in the good ole USA.
New viewer, love the content, Steve!
Now you need to look for $Ben$
Didn't the Supreme Court just rule on this?
No way the property went to a publicly advertised auction and sold for 3K. This was an insider deal, like the auto impound auctions in Florida. Gainesville police were angry when my brother and I went to bid on impounded vehicles after I saw a notice for it on a bulletin board in the hallway at the police station after they towed my car. The only other people at the auction were cops. Seized vehicles in Florida go to auctions that only the cops who impounded them are invited to. We bought two old motorcycles the cops didn't want anyway and were allowed to leave without incident.
Yup. Those greedy cops must be on it.
I would also like to know if the buyer has any friends in the tax office because, it seems unreasonable to believe no one else wouldn't have bid more on a 300k house.
Cases like this make me think of how those that scheme the elderly or weak will eventually cross paths with the wrong person or family that settles things a different way.
Heroes. Damn, if i ever get old i wouldn't want to get out without sending more.
Somebody has to go to jail.
It might be legal, but it is immoral
I think it's unconstitutional, thus illegal.
This is judicial failure.
I think so too, my mortgage was sold and the tax payment was paid late. I got it paid right after the delinquency notice so it never went to auction. That is how I became aware of the law. I faxed the bill and the new company paid it , they had to pay the late fee. I call every year now to be sure. I have had the same company for about the last 10 years.
So you expect narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths give a shit about morality?? 😂😂
@@Vamoosoreally.. Who are you to say it's unconstitutional?? How many times did you VOTE for narcissists/sociopaths/psychopaths that don't obey the constitution to be your masters?? 😂😂
@@Gangsta1168 Not really, but it offends me to see legalized theft
When a city "notifies" an owner it should only be by hand serving them by sheriff. They can send multiple notices by mail that the owner won't receive because they could be in a long term care facility. The city should have to prove that the owner was served. A 60cent stamp is not proof that they were served.
You got me fuuuucked up if i spend a whole 30 years or 20 years paying off an entire house, never falling behind on the mortgage payments or taxes. Then after i pay off the 300,000$ house plus all the additional for the mortgage so like 420k. Then i get hurt and am unable to cover taxes one year then before i could get to paying it they try and kick me out of the house i paid off.. you better believe im popping heads until they pop mine…. Damn right.. im taking out a few lives after they take mine for working for something they took away.. aint gonna happen..
Be careful people...sometimes the enemy lies within. Wake up.
It's a win for local taxpayers in order to get the property back on the tax rolls. The process should include TONS of hoops for the municipality and any debt buyer. But, people should pay their taxes. Full stop.
It appears this wasn't a sale of the house by the city but sale of the tax lien. This appeared to have happened in 2019. At some point after that the private tax lien owner then started foreclosure proceedings. I think this is different than the recent Supreme Court case where a city kept the difference between how much they sold a house for and how much the previous owner owed them. I think this explains why the auction didn't result in a higher amount being paid out. The owner of the tax lien had more work to do before they actually own the house.
I can't speak for anywhere else, but how it works in Colorado:
You have 1 year to pay your property tax debt. After 1 year, you debt becomes a security and is auctioned. Once your debt is auctioned, you now owe the person who bought the debt. If you pay off the debt, nothing else happens. If the debt is unpaid for 3 years (and the purchaser of the debt has paid the subsequent property tax over that period of time) then the purchaser of the debt can file to take possession of the property. In this instance, a potential $3000 debt becomes ownership of a $300,000 house.
Important rules:
* The house must be owned (mortgage companies in Colorado do not tend to allow property tax to be paid separately)
* Once the debt is purchased, the purchaser MUST pay the subsequent property taxes while the debt is outstanding
* The county must notify that the debt is purchased as well as provide information on how to pay the debt and what is owed
* At any time, the homeowner can pay the debt in full (or make payments) to the purchaser of the debt. This includes subsequent taxes owed.
The house DOES NOT become property of the county and the house is not auctioned, just the debt. Once there is a court filing to take possession of the house, any and all current liens against the house are cancelled. The buyer of the debt becomes the owner of the house. I believe this is called "Adverse Possession". If the house is worth $300,000, that full value belongs to the new owner of the house.
Start taxing tents too. No one lives for free in America.. well unless you illegally migrate
2 years ago I read something about a little old lady who’s house almost got taken from her over a penny if I worked in the office that handled that I would’ve just went out to my truck and grabbed a penny and paid it myself
Property tax is extortion. Period.