Often politicians steal people’s houses.
Really.
Some towns rob homeowners of their homes and keep the money if they do n’t make the payments, even if they never received the bills. All the revenues. Even if the entire is significantly higher than the amount owed in property taxes.
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I reported on this ( mal ) practice a couple years ago. Since then, there’s been good information from the Supreme Court.
But as my new movie points out, some cities still , steal properties.
Tawanda Hall’s estate taxes were insufficient. For that, she lost her mother’s$ 308, 000 home–$ 286, 000 more than what she owed.
When Hall second learned that Oakland County, Michigan, officials were seizing her house, she went to the president’s business to try to pay off her bill.
But” they did n’t want our money”, Hall tells me,” They wanted the house…. They stole our house”.
She did n’t yet understand she was behind on fees:” We did not receive anything other than,’ Find out.'”
Government officials frequently inform people in legalese so densely that the homeowner does n’t understand what the town demands, according to Christina Martin, a lawyer at the Pacific Legal Foundation. They are “incented to never work with people who are sincerely trying to pay,” they say.
Martin took Hall’s case to court, claiming the county violated the” Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment, which ensures that private property ca n’t be taken for public use without just compensation.  ,
However, a prosecutor in Michigan rejected her claim because the state itself was profitable. Otherwise, the state gave her apartment to the Southfield Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, a personal business. The majority of the money was therefore kept in her home.
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” The government should n’t be able to steal from its own people and then give it to their friends”, says Martin.  ,
” How do you know that they’re’ associates'”? I ask.
” The company is run by the mayor and the city administrator” . ,
It’s accurate. Foreclosed house sales for$ 10 million were the focus of the Southfield Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. Between 2016 and 2019, the business sold 138 properties. They did n’t give any money back to the original homeowners.  ,
Uri Rafaeli, a retired engineer, accidentally underpaid his property taxes because he did n’t add interest on his debt. His algebra was incorrect by only$ 8.41.  ,
But Oakland County bureaucrats did n’t care. His home was foreclosed on and sold for$ 24 500. The county kept all that money, not just$ 8.41.
You may think that he would have paid it if he knew he owed$ 8? Martin says. ” Of program. He did n’t know. There was n’t the right motivation to enable him know”.
Sixty-seven-year-old Deborah Foss fell behind on estate fees. She owed New Bedford, Massachusetts$ 9, 626. Officials sold her home for$ 242, 000 and kept the change. Foss had to live in her vehicle as well.
The Pacific Legal Foundation won the Supreme Court case against these house invasions. The judge ruled 9-0 that the process is illegal.  ,
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” You simply take what you’re owed”, wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Ultimately. Justice.  ,
Except for the county that allegedly robbed Tawanda Hall’s home, it still wo n’t pay the extra money. They’re spending more tax money on legal expenses, demanding that Hall show the house’s price in court.
At least the person living in her car got$ 85, 000 up. She is no longer poor.
Although some states also use loopholes to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling, I would like to say that these abuses have ended. The Pacific Legal Foundation claims they may continue to file legal action until cities permanently stop this practice.
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