D.C. tax leins targeting low income & Disablied?

[Chowder Head]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/invest ... h-nothing/

[rward]

I ain't exactly surprised, having worked at law firms that represent banks and such for the better part of a decade.

[tanksmom]

Before I comment I will say that I work in real estate and I don't deal with Washington DC so my take on this story could be revised if I find out additional details.

In my state we have tax sales for unpaid taxes from the tax year 2 previous. So let's say you don't finish paying 2012 taxes, in 2013 you would have already received. (Note I am not familiar with the system in DC.)

1. A notice from the del tax office that there is an unpaid balance along with instructions to pay it before any add'l fees are added in January

2. A certified notice that your taxes will be liened and additional fees added in March

3. A certified notice that your taxes are delinquent along with a new total amount due and information regarding signing up for a repayment plan or attorneys that work for free to get the debt reduced/eliminated in June

4. Another certified notice that says the same as the June notice in September

5. Another certified notice that says the same as the previous 2 notices in December

Starting in 2014

6. Another certified notice that says the same as the previous 3 notices and your property is posted as in danger of tax sale (big orange paper posted on your front door) in February

7. Another notice, another posting and you are listed in the newspaper as potential tax sale in April

8. Last certified notice, another posting and your property is scheduled for sale

9. Open auction on your property and you are given 30 days to vacate the property

10. If you can pay back the tax within the 30 days you retain your property and the buyer loses out on their deposit

If they have a similar system of notification I find it sad that he lost his house but I understand from the other end that the area he lives in depends on on his taxes to function. From the article however it seems like they cut out a good portion of the steps and give me some more sympathy for him.

I lived through the market crash of 2008 where so many people thought that if they just didn't answer the phone for the collectors nothing bad could happen. It is expensive to foreclose, tax sell a property. If you're delinquent be proactive to try to minimize the damage. I want to know if the family realized that he was suffering from dementia and didn't step in until it was too late. I understand that you don't want to step on a relatives toes who still thinks that they are handling their life but if you know that they are forgetting to pay bills/eat/bath/sleep you need to step in and help!

I will also say that a bank foreclosure and their process is vastly different from a tax sale and much more slanted toward the bank vs the homeowner

[rward]

If you look at the story, a good number of the people who lost their homes were suffering from dementia or hospitalized for long stretches. They either never got the notices or they weren't mentally capable of appreciating their meaning.

[GenerationCedarchip]

If you look at the story, a good number of the people who lost their homes were suffering from dementia or hospitalized for long stretches. They either never got the notices or they weren't mentally capable of appreciating their meaning.

I read that story and was just horrified for those people profiled in the story. Tax liens are handled somewhat differently here (not sold to private investors, for starters) so I had no idea this went on. Also, if the county gets any indication that it's dealing with someone under a disability, there's automatically a Guardian ad litem appointed to protect the person. I can't imagine buying and selling tax liens or allowing uncapped attorney fees like this. Then again, I've had some experience dealing with the District in the past and I have to say that there are lot of screwed up things to be found in the DC City government and this appears to be another.

[RainbowSky]

Yeah, well DC is a fucking mess. And I'll leave it at that. :sigh: