> If you raised money to pay their back taxes, what would they do the following year? Detroit property tax rates are something like 3% per year. If I own the h

> If you raised money to pay their back taxes, what would they do the following year? Detroit property tax rates are something like 3% per year. If I own the house outright, shouldn't I get a mortgage on the house to pay the property taxes, rather than lose the entire house? If I was a banker in the Detroit area I'd be all over this—with a little bit of marketing I could offer to “save your house from the tax man”, take care of all the paperwork, and charge the highest interest rate that still let me sleep at night. (People could shop around, but if you're going to shop around for a better interest rate, you're probably of the type that isn't about to lose your paid-off home over a bill for 10% of the total value.)