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RE: your proposal: Taxes would take over 100 years to get to that level in most places. Your property tax bill for the year is usually (depending on what levies have been approved by voters) less than 1% of the value of the property.

Note, she did not pay her taxes in 2014 and 2015 either. In most jurisdictions that I am aware of, taxes are collected 2x/year (half each time). Had she made any of her 4 next payments, the oldest balance would have been paid off and the delinquency moved forward.

This also seems to indicate that she had not paid Federal Income Taxes for several years. People get tax notices in the mail for 2 purposes universally. 1, to notify you of any change in the valuation of your property as well as an update of the mill rate for the new year. 2, a record of taxes paid so that you can itemize them for your Federal Income taxes.

I have a level of sympathy for her because of my general resentment towards government and taxes, however she has no leg to stand on. In short, she chose to stop paying taxes, and when she finally got around to trying to sell her property, suddenly found out that her cost avoidance strategy backfired.

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.