Posted on 06/29/2016 9:47:32 AM PDT by MichCapCon
A vacant lot owned by a Jackson woman was foreclosed by Hillsdale County because she failed to pay a $7 late fee on her property taxes.
A Freedom of Information Act request found that Pam Baker, a Jackson resident, owed Hillsdale County $7.70 in interest and late fees for delinquent taxes from 2013 on land she owned near Lake LeAnn in Somerset Township.
The 2013 taxes on the property, which she owned since 2000, were due on Feb. 14, 2014. Baker says she paid her taxes two weeks late because she was in a car crash seven days before the due date.
Hillsdale County Treasurer Gary Leininger confirmed that Baker paid her taxes, albeit late. He said Baker likely paid the taxes to the township where the property is located, and then the township treasurer turned the payment over to the county treasurer, which is responsible for collecting delinquent taxes.
Baker paid $161.29 on March 18, 2014, according to Leininger. The $7.70 was, he said, a balance due from interest and a four percent late fee.
Thats standard operating procedure for county treasurers all over the state, Leininger explained. She would have received a paid receipt, but it clearly showed it was a partial payment and there was a balance due."
Leininger said the receipt would have shown a balance of less than $10 and Baker never responded.
Baker claims she didnt receive any notices stating that a failure to pay the late fee would result in a forfeiture of the property. Bakers property was forfeited on March 1, 2015. According to documents included in the FOIA, a notice of judgement of foreclosure was issued Feb. 26, 2016, which stated the foreclosure would become final on March 31, 2016.
Baker said she called the county clerk to find out what she owed on the property, and thats when she found out it had already been foreclosed.
I called there and couldnt believe my property was foreclosed, she said. I couldnt believe it. I didnt receive anything.
I was just calling to see what I owe, but I didnt know what it was for, she said. I never signed anything.
Leininger disputed Bakers claim that she did not receive any notifications. Documents received from the FOIA request show that Hillsdale County sent delinquent tax notices in 2014, postmarked June 1 and Sept. 1, to Baker's home address in Jackson. The notices said she owed $7.70. If she paid after Aug. 31, the fee would go up to $9.16. The second notice stated the fee would go up to $24.39 if the bill were paid after Nov. 30.
Documents also show that the county sent a notice of forfeiture to Bakers Jackson residence on June 30, 2015, through certified mail. Tracking information indicates that the mail was not signed for, so a notice was left at Bakers home and the mail was returned to the Hillsdale County treasurer's office.
The county also posted a notice on the Somerset Township lot and published notices in the Hillsdale Daily News three weeks in a row in January 2016. But Baker said she rarely visited the property, which is why she never saw any notices posted there, and she doesnt receive the Hillsdale Daily News.
The thing that gets me is, I have a phone number and they know what it is, she said. Why didnt someone call me?
I had a 'for sale' sign on the property with my phone number on it, she added.
Leininger, who sent an agent to post a notice on the property on Jan. 15, 2016, said county treasurers are not required by law to call delinquent taxpayers, nor did the county know Bakers phone number.
He also said the last time the county heard from Baker, who has not paid her 2014 or 2015 property taxes, was March 18, 2014, when the county processed her payment on the delinquent 2013 taxes, absent the interest and late fee. We never heard from her since, until after the foreclosure was final, he said.
In my view, the lady doesnt have a leg to stand on, Leininger said.
Michigan Capitol Confidential sent the FOIA request to Hillsdale County on April 7, 2016, but did not receive the requested documents until June 6, despite several follow-ups. State law allows for up to 15 business days for a response, but because of a lack of clarity in the statute, some public entities take much longer.
For a paltry $7.80, I’d say that the prior irresponsibility (is there really a responsibility to pay unjust taxes? sorry, but the question is herein raised) and alleged freeloading (was she availing of state social services? which would be a different issue and not one that socialistic politicians would frown on) is mitigated to the point where foreclosure is far too excessive and a violation of the due process clause to boot.
No one owns property. They just pay huge deposit fees (sardonicly called buying), to the previous renter. Then they pay yearly rents to the true owner. If you don’t pay your rent then you get evicted and the true owner then rents it out again.
I agree! That freeloader not paying $7.70 means everyone else must now pony up for this massive financial shortfall. The school district will no doubt have to make serious cuts. I wouldn’t be surprised if the High School marching band will have to do without a tuba this year. /sarcasm.
I think the outrage here is the bureaucracy spending taxpayer dollars on collection efforts, court costs, etc. for a $7.70 late fee. How about this: If the unpaid taxes are within 95% of the property value (i.e. foreclosure is necessary to secure the the amount owed - and nothing more) then move forward.
And you just want everyone to have freebies. Great. You pay her way if you like her so much. Leave me out of it. You are clearly a welfare lover.
Where is the issue of “freebies” raised herein? It isn’t.
Foreclosure in response to a mere $7.80 and the woman’s hardship (read the article again) is a blatant violation of the Due Process Clause.
Idiot! She didn’t pay the next two years either. I know you feel for the slug. Why didn’t you bail her out?
Documents received from the FOIA request show that Hillsdale County sent delinquent tax notices in 2014, postmarked June 1 and Sept. 1, to Bakers home address in Jackson. The notices said she owed $7.70. If she paid after Aug. 31, the fee would go up to $9.16. The second notice stated the fee would go up to $24.39 if the bill were paid after Nov. 30.Now why were these notices not forwarded to her other address?
This is precisely why it’s nearly impossible to foreclose on a property, why it’s impossible to evict a squatter. Because of sob stories like this, reactionary laws are written to protect the delinquent owner, and as a result situations like what I now face are all too common.
My crazy neighbor, who thinks he’s Jesus Christ, and yells at the top of his lungs “you are all going to die, the government is planing to bomb us all with nuclear weapons!”, when he isn’t playing “Christian” rock music at the maximum level of his stereo, all day and night, he hasn’t payed his mortgage or condo fees for over a year (much less property taxes I’m sure). He’s received multiple eviction/foreclosure notices but nothing ever happens. Nothing. And it’s all because of the rediculous legal requirements now in place because of sob stories like this idiot woman who couldn’t bring herself to pay $7 in late fees.
With all that said, property taxes as a concept are an abhorrent injustice to any landowner. One never truly owns a property with such modern day fiefdom in place. This cannot be debated, if one is paying money to another entity even the government by definition, one does not truly own the property! The one receiving the money owns the property! Such legalized thievery needs to stop I don’t care about the fact such moneies are used to fund public schools. Public schools are godless enterprises set up to fatten teachers unions anyway, such injustice cannot be abided. It’s un-American in every sense.
< /rant >
That’s effing theft. The thief should be horsewhipped.
Pure Michigan
The only thing she owed was $7
Like I said, fck good people, collect the bad ones. That county can stay stuck on stupid, hello IsIs
Originally she owed $7. But since she didn’t pay either her 2014 or 2015 taxes, the amount was much higher. Or do you say that she didn’t owe those taxes, either?
Appreciate the thoughtful reply. Hope my prior snark doesn’t suggest disrespect.
The proposal I suggested attempts to limit Government’s ability to seize private property to the extent that the value of the asset doesn’t dwarf the unpaid sum. The proposal has failings, it would likely invite abuse by taxpayers. Just the first idea to come to mind to limit loss of private property for such a small sum, a late fee at that.
I suspect the bureaucracy could have chosen other options for the $7.70. Small claims court would likely have led to a lien on the property or possibly could have led to other collection efforts (garnish wages, maybe send the sheriff to grab a loose chicken on the property and sell it auction). Snark again, sorry.
As a taxpayer, I’m non-plussed by the idea of others being able to escape writing checks that I do. My cynical side is screaming that someone wanted the property or wanted to exercise some muscle on a personal level.
Another example of why I utterly oppose property taxes as being destructive of property rights. No one ever really OWNS their property in one of these jurisdictions.
At least the British are right up front about it and they call property tax by its more honest name so the peons all know who is in charge: RENT
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