[Comp625]

One of my co-workers received an offer to re-finance her Trumbull home from an interest rate of 5% down to 3.5%. It would have been a quick process (sign 1 piece of paper) since it was the same issuing bank that was offering this adjustment.

Thinking that she was going to save about $200 month, she finds out that the re-financing declined because there is a Collections Notice on her AND there is a lien on her house. She had never received any notices from the Town of Trumbull about being placed in collections or having a lien placed on her house.

• 2 years prior to buying the house, the Town of Trumbull installed city sewerage system in her neighborhood and on her property.
• The previous owner never disclosed the need to pay for the sewer system when she closed on the house in 2001.
• A year after owning the house, she gets a delinquency notice about needing to pay for the sewer system.
• Her (now ex-husband's) attorney tried to fight the notice since it wasn't properly disclosed but nothing could be done.
• My co-worker ended up paying for the sewer system over a 10-year period at $950 each year.
• [I think this is where the Collections originates from.] In 2010, she went through tough times and did a loan re-modification. For whatever reason, she only paid a portion of that $950 (so it would make sense for the town to place her into Collections). Also, the loan re-modification at this time would probably have been declined had the Collections Notice/Lien been placed on her.

As of today, the amount in Collections is $4,100 (and $1,400 is interest). She doesn't know what the Interest % Rate is or how long the Collections had been on her record. She already asked the town to remove the tax obligation, but they said No. She's going there during her lunch break today to get further documentation (e.g. copies of the Collections & Lien notices, etc.).

I know it's her fault for not having paid the $950 but is there anything that can be done? Are there any appeals processes or legal actions that she can evaluate? If it weren't for the refinance, she would have never found any of this out and continued to accrue interest for another 5/10/15+ years.

Separate Story: I have a DIFFERENT co-worker who had lived in Trumbull 6 years ago, but moved to Fairfield in 2007 or so. Apparently, she had been owing auto taxes on the 2nd half of 2007 even though she had already moved to Fairfield. About 3 months ago, she received a notice indicating that they put her in Collections and that they wouldn't waive the Interest. Again, no warnings or notices throughout the 6 years (though it is very possible that they tried to send the stuff to her old Trumbull address).

Both of these accounts are making me question the competency of Town of Trumbull's tax collector office. But in both instances, I can see how both due amounts were sent to Collections. Thoughts?

[willow wind]

I highly doubt there is anything that can be done to help your friend with the sewer issue. When sewers go in, a payment plan is developed and a sewer lien by the town levied against all homes being sewered. The town records those liens into public record. ( They can be found in the town clerk's office)

I find it hard to believe that your friend bought a home without knowing about the sewer lien. The real estate agent would legally have had to disclose it, the appraiser who appraised the home would have picked it up and without a doubt the title search would have noted it.

As far as finding out interest rates, payments, years, terms, late charges, etc. all your friend has to do is to call the appropriate office in town hall. It's all public record, anyone can get the info over the phone.

Without a doubt the town would have notified her of the account going to collection long before they sent it there. Towns away try to work out the payment rather than sending it to collection. Something is missing in this story. She must have know she was missing part of a payment and never made it up with the accrued interest for not paying. Did she think it was just going to go away ?

I wish her good luck, but I don't think she has a leg to stand on here. The paytments are due when they are due for whatever term of years decreed. If you don't pay them promptly, then the fees are applied and they sure do pile up.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by Comp625

[*]2 years prior to buying the house, the Town of Trumbull installed city sewerage system in her neighborhood and on her property.[*]The previous owner never disclosed the need to pay for the sewer system when she closed on the house in 2001.[*]A year after owning the house, she gets a delinquency notice about needing to pay for the sewer system.

Something eerily similar happened in Monroe, too. I think town halls are notorious for poor record-keeping.

Neighbors Want Breakdown of Bill Before Paying for Waterline - Monroe, CT Patch

Fifteen homeowners living with poor well-water quality on Forest Road and Cedar Terrace struck an agreement with the town to extend a water main to their neighborhood seven years ago. But they had never been billed for the work and only recently learned through media reports that the town plans to bill each property $11,830 to be paid over 10 years at five percent annual interest — and that liens would be used to ensure payment.

John Badyrka of Forest Road said, "It was never our intention to not pay the town back." He said he had gone to town hall asking about payments up until 2008, but gave up when no one ever knew anything about it.

Mary Alice and Gregory Citrano just bought their house on Cedar Terrace last November.
"We didn't know anything about this situation until we saw it through the media," Mary Alice said.

[Comp625]

Originally Posted by willow wind

I find it hard to believe that your friend bought a home without knowing about the sewer lien. The real estate agent would legally have had to disclose it, the appraiser who appraised the home would have picked it up and without a doubt the title search would have noted it.

Without a doubt the town would have notified her of the account going to collection long before they sent it there. Towns away try to work out the payment rather than sending it to collection. Something is missing in this story. She must have know she was missing part of a payment and never made it up with the accrued interest for not paying. Did she think it was just going to go away ?

I agree; the more that she kept talking about the story, the more skeptical I became since she didn't reveal the "not-paying-the-$950" until after we had been discussing the entire topic for a while. She's also freaking out because she has no idea how to drum up $4000+, so I can't fully blame her for cloudy judgment. Also, her personality is not the type that would ignore letters about Collections/Liens...

On the same token, it took 6 years for Trumbull to locate my other co-worker who unknowingly owed auto taxes. Seriously? 6 years? Perhaps I am giving municipalities too much grief...short of moving to Mars, most people who owe Collections are hassled on a daily basis via endless mailings, constant phonecalls, etc. no matter where they are.

[Comp625]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

Something eerily similar happened in Monroe, too. I think town halls are notorious for poor record-keeping.

Neighbors Want Breakdown of Bill Before Paying for Waterline - Monroe, CT Patch

Fifteen homeowners living with poor well-water quality on Forest Road and Cedar Terrace struck an agreement with the town to extend a water main to their neighborhood seven years ago. But they had never been billed for the work and only recently learned through media reports that the town plans to bill each property $11,830 to be paid over 10 years at five percent annual interest — and that liens would be used to ensure payment.

John Badyrka of Forest Road said, "It was never our intention to not pay the town back." He said he had gone to town hall asking about payments up until 2008, but gave up when no one ever knew anything about it.

Mary Alice and Gregory Citrano just bought their house on Cedar Terrace last November.
"We didn't know anything about this situation until we saw it through the media," Mary Alice said.

Wow...I wonder how town halls/municipalities have become so inefficient.

Is it the type of workers that they have hired? Is it the workflow process?

I know that in the town halls I've been to, many of the workers have been employed there for years and years. They keep the job for the employee/retirement benefits. Yet, they appear "slow" and "disinterested" in what they do. It's probably a haste judgment on my end, but I can't help but make that observation.

[willow wind]

In the case of the fifteen homeowners that is indeed a long time to wait for the town to levy assessments against their homes. Yes, the town would have notified in writing them before it actually filed the liens.

What towns try to do is to obtain grants, bonding etc. from the state to pay for some of the work to keep the cost down. They do that first and then when they have a concrete number, they figure out what each homeowner will pay. In this case, though, it's taken an awfully long time. But surely the homeowners knew it would come eventually.