Posted on 06/07/2004 9:53:30 AM PDT by Willie Green
The cleaning crew and real estate agent arrived early. An Allegheny County Sheriff's deputy was there, too, watching Joyce and Konrad Schachner run back and forth from their North Side home of five years to the U-Haul truck that now carried their lives.
"Why are the cops here, Mom?" asked 5-year-old Konrad Jr., standing wide-eyed in front of his house on Van Buren Street.
"Because we gotta go," she answered. "I told you, we gotta go."
And within 45 minutes the Schachners were gone, driving to a relative's home for lack of other options. In the wake of their eviction, everything they decided to leave behind -- toys, furniture, clothing -- had been discarded.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
$1000/year sounds awfully low for property taxes. You don't think the local government is going to spend much more than that to educate their 5 year-old for that same year? Even the cheapest school districts spend several thou a year per kid unless they wanted to use volunteer teachers in an unheated tent.
I don't see how she could have left the settlement table without knowing it. If fact, lenders are supposed to give you all of that information before you even go to settlement.
It sounds to me like it was just poor money management on her part, and now she is trying to play dumb or blame someone else (I bet it's Bush's fault!).
It is true that some lenders and real estate agents are too "liberal" in telling people, especially first time buyers, what they can afford. They have no stake in anything after the sale, and everything to gain by pushing the buyer to a higher home price/loan.
I remember when I bought my first house, they told me I could buy a house for up to $150,000. Sure, I probably could have, but only if I ate bread and water, drove to and from work and went no where else, and used cardboard boxes for furniture! I ended up buying a house for $99K because it was crazy to think I could possibly afford to live in a $150K house at that time.
I have some young relatives who just bought a house for probably more than they should have spent (but they insisted on a single house instead of townhouse as a starter home). But I also know that they have now maxed out a few credit cards buying stuff for the house. They'll be in the hole for years.
Then they face the prospect of ever rising property taxes around here, which I'm sure they are not planning for.
I live in central Illinois and know where my property taxes go. About 90% goes to public schools. We have a grade school tax a seperate tax for the high school and yet another tax for the junior college in the area.
I wouldn't have as much of a complaint if I thought we were getting our moneys worth from the public schools but as it is it's just pouring money down a rat hole.
I am retired and as a retiree Illinois does not tax my pension. I've wondered why some democrat hasn't jumped all over that yet. Well, our current dim governor is getting ready to do just that among other taxes he is going to raise. Including a raise in the state income tax. Politically the state is ruled by Chicago democrats and I am ready to move. Now if I can just talk my wife into it.
You have an obstructionist 'RAT problem in the legislature?
Yeah buddy. Remember the rats that ran to Oklohoma and New Mexico. Those where from the TX legislature as well.
We're talking about a house for $40-50k. Schools in PA are paid for by a combination of property taxes and a local wage tax and a state subsidy from other tax sources, including state income tax. So it wouldn't be just their $1000 tax going to pay for the school.
SD
We are at $1800.00 here in Drums PA ( 1 acre, Bi-Level house). The locals complain that the taxes are high. Hubby and me laugh because we come from Westchester County NY (Yonkers).
At that time I had moved from WV back to Pittsburgh due to my husband's desire to have a divorce which coincided with Dad suffering his debilitating stroke.
I was dealing with where would Dad live? Taking care of paying his bills as he couldn't write anymore and then going back and forth from WV to Pgh. and having to deal with my husband and his family who couldn't understand why I had to tend to my Dad when they thought my sister should carry the whole load.
Course my ex-husband would always threaten divorce every time he got in a snit and when this happened to Dad, I said, "Fine, you want a divorce - go file the necessary papers."
I had been a stay at home mom for his son for seven years and then had 3 big stressers of life on my shoulders to contend with in addition to finding a job for myself in a city I hadn't lived in in 24 years.
The divorce went on for 2 years, I lived in Dad's house because I couldn't afford an apartment. I had only done secretarial and accounting clerical work and couldn't find anything that would pay more than $10.00 per hour and throughout all this, was moving Dad from hospital to rehab to assisted living to trips to the hospital for various ailments, paying his bills, trying to keep up with house, moving him to another assisted living and in 2001 I had close to a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized myself for a week. Doctor said for me to take time off from work for at least 6 months. During 2001 Dad had 2 cataract surgeries (with 6 trips to the eye doctor additionally for this), surgery for dentures - aftertrips to dentist to fit the dentures properly, 3 emergency room trips.
I had little time to cultivate friendships because of the attention I had to give to Dad.
Then he went to the nursing home because his care level was above what assisted living could legally provide. At $4700.00 per month, his savings went out the window and all he has left is the house.
But I haven't been able to keep up with taxes because nursing home demands every red cent of his money.
Suffice to say, I've been contacted by the Allegheny County sheriff and expect to be kicked out of Dad's house shortly.
My sister and her husband are separated - he's a big time drug addict. I've tried to talk with her about us living together but she doesn't want to deal with that now. I make $10.40 an hour and I'm afraid of where I would have to live on my salary in this county.
Anyways, I guess with 20/20 hindsight, I could've done some things differently. Sometimes I feel like a failure that I should've handled things better. Dad has had this house since 1956. He took care of things the way they should be taken care of and I failed him. Believe me when I say that with all I've been through in the past 5 years, had I not had faith and belief in God I would've killed myself by now.
It makes me angry that his school taxes went from around $1300 per year to $2200.00 overnight. That Allegheny taxes went from $300.00 some to over $600.00.
I knew this was inevitable - the county knocking at the door. Oh, well.
Makes me sad to read of the economic condition of Pittsburgh.
You're right,they need leaders with vision and very business friendly tax incentives.
A friend of my daughter's lived in Pittsburgh for several years,returning back here to Massachusetts about a year ago. She loved the city so it must have lots going for it also.
I don't know exactly where they lived but money wasn't a problem for them.
That often makes all the difference,doesn't it?
It's Pittsburgh. If it ain't fishin, fightin or another in, you got to draw em a picture.
I thank God that I had good friends and family to give me terrific advice when buying my house. My agent tried to get me to max out my allowable income on a home, but I said no way, and found a houses I loved and was far below what I was told I could afford.
Of course, I have very little sympathy for anyone who doesn't know they must pay property taxes when they own a home. There is a lot of blame to pass around here...
You can't not know! There is disclosure after disclosure given to people during loan application, loan processing and through the closing. The disclosures duing app and processing are based on estimates and one's at closing are based on actual figures!
Obviously, these people decided to not have an escrow account for taxes and insurance where they could handle it themselves. Too bad they neglected to perform as they agreed to do at closing.
Go away, pessimist.
$1000 annually is about $83 a month. If you can't re-budget for that small an amount after a few months of knowing about it, you're living too close to the bone.
Have you checked with the taxing authorities about reduced taxes? In many areas of the country there are reduced rates for seniors and for the disabled. Since he still owns the home, he would qualify for any reduction.
Agreed...we just purchased a new double-wide log mobile home and they estimated our local taxes as well as insurance for us, it was part of the disclosure. I had the same experience when I purchased a home in the city years ago.
Like your young relatives, we just had to talk my 23 y/o stepson out of purchasing a $150,000 home with his fiance. When we finished explaining things to him, he agreed that, (again like your relatives), they could not afford maintenance or furnishings if they bought that particular house. His fiance was angry with him at first (spoiled rich brat wanted a house like momma's), but he stood his ground and they finally settled on a $65,000 starter home.
Heck...hubby and I have been saving for the last 10 years we've been married, and our new house is ~$75,000. But then, I own my own property free and clear (which much to the bank's chagrin, I refused to allow them to tack onto the note as collateral as it is not community property), and it is at the lake, so the total value will be much higher.
Now all I gotta do is keep hubby from accidentally shooting a hole in the side of this one like he did our old one, LOL!
"They failed to pay municipal taxes for three years and by the time they contacted The Associates to work out a payment plan, it was too late.
"[Associates] wanted all the back pay right away," Joyce Schachner said. "There was no way."
UGH.. I have heard horror stories about The Associates, not blaming them, but I wouldn't be surprised about something going on concerning them.
I wonder how many people are "upside down" in their homes?
$1000 is peanuts to pay in taxes, not that it makes it right. I know plenty of people who pay in real estate taxes as much as the Schachner's mortgage.
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