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This may be an odd post, but a friend of mine bought a house on 1/4 of an acre that needed work several years ago. She paid 45k for the house and claims she put 40k into it for construction, plumbing and electric. The property is assessed for 180k (probably too high as the house is not in great shape) and is in the Sebago lakes area which according to her means higher prices. An expensive development is going in near her property as well. Right after she bought her house the lumber company that is now doing that development had offered her 70k for her house.
Quite a while ago I told her she should consider selling the house due to the economy and because she has no car and can't live at the house currently as you'd need a car to go to the store or to find a job etc. She has said you don't sell in a down market, though my thing is that this is not the 1990's anymore.
At any rate she says the town has said she has to pay her taxes and they denied her a tax abatement. She says they can seize her property for the $2500 in taxes she owes and she gets nothing whatever. This I find hard to fathom and it sounds very unjust, can that be true ? She says she has researched it and the town told her the exact law and that her sister has worked in town government as well. The payment is due in less than 30 days. I guess towns in Maine are hurting as she knows others in similar circumstances.
I had wondered if there is anyway she can sign her house over to me, put it in a trust or something, then I can sell the house and give her the money minus $1000 or something depending on how much of a hasel it ends up being for me. My mother thinks you'd need a lawyer and it sounds complicated and possibly undoable. I don't want to just loan the money as she may never really want to sell the house and a loan seems risky despite well sounding intentions. Her son may also want to owner finance the house and she is trying to figure out if she has collateral for a loan. She thinks she has some valuable paintings. She had given me a diamond ring to check out, but I went to the jeweler and he said $500 max or so. I never got a second opinion as I don't have time to drive all over for that.
I find it very stressful as she is a friend and I care about her but the tax amount is very high, but what she is telling me seems unjust as well.
this thread seems to indicate what she is saying is entirely possible:
"So, if Mrs. Prunella Beasley gets foreclosed on for a tax lien of $35,000, and the city of Greedacious where she lives sells her property for $135,000, they have no legal obligation to return the other $100,000 to Mrs. Beasley."
Last edited by 7th generation; 11-24-2012 at 02:33 PM..
Reason: moved from the Maine forum
I'm no lawyer but I do know in most areas of the country you can in fact lose your property for not paying taxes. My Aunt lost here's years ago because she was way behind in her taxes and someone paid up the past due taxes and got the house and property. All you have to do is research at your local down hall or hall of records for delinquent properties.
On the one hand, I would say that Maine is very serious about people paying their taxes. The town or city needs the tax money to pay their bills, meet payroll, etc....schools and school employees are usually a big part of what's supported with property taxes. On the other hand, they (towns & cities) are not necessarily totally heartless when mental or physical disability or other health issues are involved. The town/city can take the property if taxes are not paid.
Sounds like your friend is short on cash and short on options. What did she think was going to happen if the taxes weren't paid? She now has 30 days to pay, but I feel certain there has been a previous deadline that has come and gone. For example, Ellsworth allows half the property tax bill to be paid in September and the other half in March or all can be paid by the March deadline...and don't be late.
Maybe you can help your friend by paying her owed taxes if she can't afford to pay them and she can then rent out her house to get some $ to pay you back (come up with a plan to keep the taxes paid up and keep the house)....selling it eventually to her son or someone else ....or maybe your friend could end up owing tens of thousand as explained in the links below; however, I doubt the town is going to look the other way for 20 years in your friend's case since you say she is NOT even living in the house. Here's an interesting case where the town of Blue Hill waited a very long time.
I've been in those shoes, and it sucks, I had to come up with 22k within a week or I would lose title to the town,
now the town doesnt want it,,, and if their is a mortgage on this property, the lender doesnt want to lose this over to the town either.
my two cents....the town will take a hard line and demand these taxes...
its worth going to a lawyer see whats the letter of the law is, in her particular circumstance
Hey pay your taxes. I hate the whole idea of property tax. Those of us who PAY tax pay far to much for what we get. All the while half the properties in small Maine towns pay NO taxes. Then we have all those who have homes but get out of taxes because they do not make enough to pay them so the town forgives them while increasing mine and making donations with the taxes I do pay! I keep telling my wife I am going to make my big outbuilding into a church and become tax free..
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If you do not pay your property taxes then the town will start the lien process to get the money. It takes between 32 and 34 months for the process to culminate in foreclosure. Some towns will let you enter into an agreement to pay the bill down on time. Our town does that. You can also make payments ahead (once you catch up). Quite a few folks will come in every week or two and put money towards the next years taxes.
Property taxes are a responsibility, just like electric bills and water bills. If you don't pay your bills you risk the consequences. The water company can also put a lien on property for unpaid bills.
She says they can seize her property for the $2500 in taxes she owes and she gets nothing whatever. This I find hard to fathom and it sounds very unjust, can that be true ?
I suspect that most states foreclose for back property taxes without reimbursing the landowner for any amount received which exceeds the tax bill. (Any reports out there to the contrary?) There are numerous rationalizations which try to justify this policy--but it basically is highly unfair, perhaps one of the worst transgressions of government, IMO.
Of course, many tax foreclosed properties aren't worth very much--they are small, odd-shaped properties or ones which are dilapidated. But there are the exceptions where valuable properties are foreclosed upon for relatively small tax bills, sometimes based upon minor mistakes in the amounts paid. In small communities where there are few tax foreclosures, it's easier to give proper notice to the landowner so they are, at least, aware of the situation. Where there are numerous tax foreclosures, proper notice sometimes falls to the wayside.
By way of example (and probably the most extreme example in the entire country), Wayne County, Michigan--which includes Detroit--had over 20,000 property tax foreclosures in 2012. Each year there are stories about people being foreclosed upon after mistakenly paying the wrong amount; paying into an escrow account where the bank failed to make the tax payment; or even of not being notified about a small delinquent tax bill. It's usually elderly or poor people involved, so it's easy for most to say "they should have known better"...but it still boils down to a poor process with too many unjust results.
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