5 ms·

> "They were warned. If you ignore the warnings, what else is the county supposed to do?" But what you quoted: > "In some cases, that's because county officia

> "They were warned. If you ignore the warnings, what else is the county supposed to do?" But what you quoted: > "In some cases, that's because county officials were mailing notices to unfinished homes or properties without permanent residents. In others, like Rafaeli's case, the notices were delivered to tenants who failed to pass along the information to their landlord, mistakenly believing that the county would inform the landlord separately." It appears there are many cases where nothing was ignored. Notification wasn't received. And that's without considering the perverse incentive where it's in the county's best interest to "accidentally" send notices to the wrong address.

Miner49er 7y ago
If it goes to the right property, and you still don't pay, you aren't using the property enough to be allowed to have it, IMO. That's what I'm saying. If you're only at that house every couple of years, why shouldn't the county take it and sell it to someone who will actually use it? This all depends on how much of a warning you get and such. Obviously if you only get a month's warning or something that would be bad, but if you're warned a year or two in advance I see no problem with this. Set up a system were you can go to court to challenge it. In cases where notices were sent to the wrong address or you simply forgot interest you should be able to overturn this, sure.
- ihattendorf 7y ago
  "It looks like the money in your savings account/investments in your investment account haven't been touched in a few years. We're taking it and giving it to someone who will use it."
- glitchc 7y ago
  > If it goes to the right property, and you still don't pay, you aren't using the property enough to be allowed to have it, IMO. > If you're only at that house every couple of years, why shouldn't the county take it and sell it to someone who will actually use it? That's not how property ownership works in America.
  - torstenvl 7y ago
    That's exactly how property ownership works in America. Cf. adverse possession, in which a landowner who doesn't visit the property often enough to notice someone openly and notoriously using it without permission loses the right to do anything about it and it becomes the new person's property. (However, in Michigan, the term required to acquire title by adverse possession is 15 years.)
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
HarryHirsch 7y ago
Notification wasn't received. Come on, the owner knows that there is a property tax bill every year, and if they don't receive it on time they should get worried. Everyone knows when their credit card bill should show up and promptly pays even when the post office lost it.
- lostlogin 7y ago
  Not all of them. I’ve been stung for penal payments when I called up to see where the bill had got to. It had passed 30 days since issued and therefore interest was due. I’d be pretty unhappy if the house got taken over that.
- jpeloquin 7y ago
  If you have a mortgage, the mortgage company usually rolls property taxes into your mortgage payment. So a homeowner may not receive a separate property tax bill for 30 years.
OrangeMango 7y ago
I own property. It's my responsibility to inform the county about where they should mail my tax bills. > in the county's best interest to "accidentally" send notices to the wrong address. Yeah, that's a nice way to end up in federal prison and the county to be on the hook to pay everyone back. PS - According to the article, the house was seized in 2014 for a delinquency on the 2011 taxes. It wasn't something that happened after a single missed notice.

Miner49er 7y ago

If it goes to the right property, and you still don't pay, you aren't using the property enough to be allowed to have it, IMO. That's what I'm saying. If you're only at that house every couple of years, why shouldn't the county take it and sell it to someone who will actually use it? This all depends on how much of a warning you get and such. Obviously if you only get a month's warning or something that would be bad, but if you're warned a year or two in advance I see no problem with this. Set up a system were you can go to court to challenge it. In cases where notices were sent to the wrong address or you simply forgot interest you should be able to overturn this, sure.

ihattendorf 7y ago
"It looks like the money in your savings account/investments in your investment account haven't been touched in a few years. We're taking it and giving it to someone who will use it."
glitchc 7y ago
> If it goes to the right property, and you still don't pay, you aren't using the property enough to be allowed to have it, IMO. > If you're only at that house every couple of years, why shouldn't the county take it and sell it to someone who will actually use it? That's not how property ownership works in America.
- torstenvl 7y ago
  That's exactly how property ownership works in America. Cf. adverse possession, in which a landowner who doesn't visit the property often enough to notice someone openly and notoriously using it without permission loses the right to do anything about it and it becomes the new person's property. (However, in Michigan, the term required to acquire title by adverse possession is 15 years.)
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

HarryHirsch 7y ago

Notification wasn't received. Come on, the owner knows that there is a property tax bill every year, and if they don't receive it on time they should get worried. Everyone knows when their credit card bill should show up and promptly pays even when the post office lost it.

lostlogin 7y ago
Not all of them. I’ve been stung for penal payments when I called up to see where the bill had got to. It had passed 30 days since issued and therefore interest was due. I’d be pretty unhappy if the house got taken over that.
jpeloquin 7y ago
If you have a mortgage, the mortgage company usually rolls property taxes into your mortgage payment. So a homeowner may not receive a separate property tax bill for 30 years.

OrangeMango 7y ago

I own property. It's my responsibility to inform the county about where they should mail my tax bills. > in the county's best interest to "accidentally" send notices to the wrong address. Yeah, that's a nice way to end up in federal prison and the county to be on the hook to pay everyone back. PS - According to the article, the house was seized in 2014 for a delinquency on the 2011 taxes. It wasn't something that happened after a single missed notice.