Pa. judge upholds sale of widow's home over $6 tax bill

[Skull Pilot]

I don't have much sympathy for people who don't pay their bills.

Anyone and I do mean anyone can come up with 6 bucks in a NY minute.

Why didn't the county tack on the 6 dollars she owed from 2008 when she was billed and paid for her 2009 taxes? Why would she pay nearly 4k in 2009 and refuse to pay for 6 dollars from 2008? Makes no damn sense.

Why didn't she just pay the 6 bucks?

 

[CaféAuLait]

I don't have much sympathy for people who don't pay their bills.

Anyone and I do mean anyone can come up with 6 bucks in a NY minute.

Why didn't the county tack on the 6 dollars she owed from 2008 when she was billed and paid for her 2009 taxes? Why would she pay nearly 4k in 2009 and refuse to pay for 6 dollars from 2008? Makes no damn sense.

Why didn't she just pay the 6 bucks?

Like I said it makes no sense for her to pay nearly 4k in 2009 and ignore the 6 bucks. It's obvious she did not know she owed 6 dollars from 2008. The county handed her a receipt stating "paid in full", so I would assume I was square. I would also assume when my tax bill arrived I was being billed for all monies owed to date.

 

[Skull Pilot]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

 

[CaféAuLait]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

She probably had several notices. She paid both years late. If she got the one for 6 bucks, maybe she assumed they were for the taxes she had just paid? In the court pleadings it states letters were returned undelivered back to the county about the 6 dollar fee. I'm sure dealing with three kids while newly widowed, the murder of her son, friend, and an accident which injured her and her daughter, leaving her unemployed, added to confusion.

 

[Skull Pilot]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

She probably had several notices. She paid both years late. If she got the one for 6 bucks, maybe she assumed they were for the taxes she had just paid? In the court pleadings it states letters were returned undelivered back to the county about the 6 dollar fee. I'm sure dealing with three kids while newly widowed, the murder of her son, friend, and an accident which injured her and her daughter, leaving her unemployed, added to confusion.

Whatever.

 

[jon_berzerk]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

She probably had several notices. She paid both years late. If she got the one for 6 bucks, maybe she assumed they were for the taxes she had just paid? In the court pleadings it states letters were returned undelivered back to the county about the 6 dollar fee. I'm sure dealing with three kids while newly widowed, the murder of her son, friend, and an accident which injured her and her daughter, leaving her unemployed, added to confusion.

there is always more to the story

according to what i read she

owed 2009 -2013 as well

 

[DGS49]

Here's the pity of it all. This is a woman who owns a telephone and has a listed phone number. Her plight was known to how many dozens of GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES at the County real estate office, who all saw what was going on. And yet NONE OF THEM saw fit to call the fucking lady on the telephone and explain to her that if she didn't pay the six lousy dollars she was going to lose her house at sheriff sale. A five minute phone call.

Not one of them.

If a comparable travesty had occurred in a private company somebody would be fired over it.

But these government teat-suckers are still happily doing whatever it is that they do, oblivious to all of it.

Do you see the pattern here?

 

[depotoo]

I would be curious to know when she mailed that check. If it was postmarked before May 1, she was paying all she was aware of and assumed that would be it. And how long past the arrival date did they post the payment? Reminds me of years ago, banks posting debits before the deposits and therefore could then claim nsf fees even though the money was physically there.

It's simple to see what happened here.

The essential facts on tax payments made for the tax years 2008 and 2009 are not in dispute.2 In March of 2009, the Central Valley School District notified the Tax Claim Bureau of an unpaid school tax on the Property in the amount of $833.88 plus a $42.01 penalty. A $15.00 entry fee was added to that amount by the Tax Claim Bureau for a total of $890.89. On April 1, 2009, interest for one month in the amount of $6.30 was added, which brought the total claim for the Property's 2008 school taxes to $897.19. On May 1, 2009, another $6.30 interest charge was added, raising the total to $903.49. On May 7, 2009, the Tax Claim Bureau received a payment from Taxpayer in the amount of $897.19. The Tax Claim Bureau credited that amount to the Taxpayer's account, leaving a remaining balance of $6.30 owing for the interest added when she did not pay by May 1, 2009.

On June 3, 2009, the Tax Claim Bureau sent Taxpayer a “notice of return and claim” that identified 2008 delinquent taxes in the amount of $6.30, plus postage and costs for a total of $28.25. The notice was returned to the Tax Claim Bureau as unclaimed. It is not clear if this notice functioned as a receipt or an invoice. No further notices, apparently, were sent to Taxpayer.

In April of 2010, Beaver County and Central Valley School District notified the Tax Claim Bureau of 2009 unpaid taxes on the Property. The unpaid Beaver County tax was $1,184.37 and a $118.44 penalty; the unpaid Central Valley School District tax was $2,324 and a $116.09 penalty. On June 3, 2010, the Tax Claim Bureau notified Taxpayer that she owed $3,832.71 for her 2009 real estate taxes, including interest and costs. On July 2, 2010, the Tax Claim Bureau sent a certified notice to Taxpayer that added interest, raising the total to $3,990.03. On September 11, 2010, the Tax Claim Bureau received a check from Taxpayer in the amount of $3,990.03, and it was applied to Taxpayer's 2009 county and school taxes.

There remained an unpaid balance of $234.72 for the 2008 school taxes. This amount was based upon the $6.30 interest imposed when the tax payment was six days late and then grew with accruing interest and costs. On September 12, 2011, Taxpayer's Property was sold at an upset tax sale for collection of the unpaid balance of $234.72 owing on Taxpayer's 2008 school taxes.

BATTISTI v. TAX CLAIM BUREAU OF BEAVER COUNTY, No. 1079 C.D.2012., August 19, 2013 - PA Commonwealth Court | FindLaw


Simply put, she paid her 2008 school taxes late, resulting in the 6 dollar late fee. Then she got her 2009 taxes, which she again paid late, the county sent her A bill for late fees and penalties. She paid that in full. She assumed her taxes were paid in full with her 2009 payment in full, meaning the country should have billed her the FULL amount due in 2009, not withholding any tiny 6 dollar amount from 2008.

 

[Pogo]

I don't have much sympathy for people who don't pay their bills.

Anyone and I do mean anyone can come up with 6 bucks in a NY minute.

Just as I could have paid the county taxis on my car if the fucking state government had told me what they were or when they were due. And once I was pulled over for what I didn't know about, I got it done the same day.

Now how the fuck do you pay a bill you don't know exists? Are people supposed to be fricking clairvoiyant or what? Is the government some kind of Pope? Infallible?

 

[JOSweetHeart]

Yeah cause it's not like she didn't get a dozen notices about the situation.

Funny thing is that doesn't make it right, it only makes it legal. Good to know what side you are on.

Amen to this. Pot may be legal in certain states now, but that doesn't mean that jumping into the pot pool is the right thing to do.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

 

[Againsheila]

Pa. judge upholds sale of widow's home over $6 tax bill

A Pennsylvania county judge has again ruled against a widow who lost her home because of an unpaid $6.30 interest charge for paying her school taxes late.

Beaver County Common Pleas Judge Gus Kwidis ruled that Eileen Battisti, of Aliquippa, was properly notified about the September 2011 tax sale of her home, which was valued at about $280,000 and sold at auction for $116,000. The decision last Tuesday followed an evidentiary hearing ordered by a higher court, which last April overturned his earlier ruling upholding the sale.

Pa. judge upholds sale of widow's home over $6 tax bill


Flippin ridiculous. Come on. 6 bucks, they auctioned her 280,000 dollars home for 116,000 dollars over a 6 dollar bill?

Shameful.

 

[Againsheila]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

Actually yes, and they didn't let me know. My mortgage company told me it was unpaid. I then paid it. Imagine if my mortgage was paid off? They would have taken my home as I didn't even know it wasn't paid. Yeah, it's my responsibility, but you try raising 2 autistic kids and having chronic pain and depression and I dare you not to forget a bill or two.

 

[Againsheila]

You know what? She should call the same militia that Bundy called. Get them to protect her and her home. Make our government back down and give her her home back.

 

[CaféAuLait]

it probably was a mistake on her part. I am sure she got a notice that her tax bill was overdue.

Have you ever been late with a tax payment? Believe me they let you know.

She probably had several notices. She paid both years late. If she got the one for 6 bucks, maybe she assumed they were for the taxes she had just paid? In the court pleadings it states letters were returned undelivered back to the county about the 6 dollar fee. I'm sure dealing with three kids while newly widowed, the murder of her son, friend, and an accident which injured her and her daughter, leaving her unemployed, added to confusion.

there is always more to the story

according to what i read she

owed 2009 -2013 as well

She may have, however when the county sold her home they stated she owed 234.00 ( penalties and fees for the 6 dollars) it's in the link I posted a bit back.

 

[emilynghiem]

He offered to sell it at the value of the property. Nothing wrong with that.

What if an individual seized your property, not the government?

Would you be okay buying back your car for its value
that some other entity seized without your consent?

Are you only saying this because the government did it?
So it makes it legal?

But wouldn't you say HELL NO if some individual third-party
seized your car, sold it to someone else for half price,
and that person offered to sell it back to you for full price?

Really?

If so, can we try this with your car or your house?

To take it from you, sell it to someone else,
and split the difference if you buy it back at full price!

Let me know if you would REALLY consent to that.

 

[Moonglow]

All she had to pay was 6 dollars, yet I wonder how much her attorney cost...

 

[emilynghiem]

Sorry bout that,

1. One word, *liberals*.

Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

Sorry but the liberals suffer from abuse and corruption in govt
just as much, if not more so where there are not equal legal defenses, resources or protections.

I know a number of nonprofit groups harassed by the appraisal and taxing offices,
revoking their nonprofit exempt status to try to seize their property "unless they fight in court"
knowing the govt has more legal resources (that taxpayers pay for) than these low income citizens and nonprofits.

Elderly residents and churches, too, in known Black liberal Democrat communities
picked on as easy targets for not having legal knowledge and resources to defend themselves.

You wonder why Blacks are afraid of trying to own property and become independent.
All we hear are horror stories of govt abused to "take land away anyway."

So if the "powers that be" control all things and people have no way to fight it,
why even try to get involved in the system if it doesn't give you any control anyway?

That's why the liberals and especially Blacks stay stuck.
They think it is the "rich conservatives" abusing the govt and corporate advantage
to take advantage of poor people.

If both parties keep blaming the other, then the real crooks keep doing it and
getting away with it. Everyone stays stuck and gets rooked as victims of govt abuses!

 

[emilynghiem]

All she had to pay was 6 dollars, yet I wonder how much her attorney cost...

That's the end game.

The govt side has all their legal costs paid for by taxpayers.

This is why you can't fight city hall, when all your taxes are used to pay
for the legal fight against you.

And the only check against legal abuse
is "more lawyers" under the same state bar system defending its own interests.

It's enough to drive anyone crazy if you aren't already.

I've watched numerous friends go over the edge trying to fight "legal abuse"
when all the conflicts of interest go against them. It's maddening.
There's even a psychiatric syndrome for "legal abuse" similar to PTSD but on
a prolonged basis, because of the protracted legal process that tends to drag out
because lawyers get paid more that way.

Just trying to help my friends, I even worry about my own sanity in trying to correct these problems
that I got caught in emotionally and financially as well. My family and friend relationships
have suffered the longer that conflicts dragged on, knowing the victims of govt abuses have no legal resources to fight it.
It's makes me just as sick to see abuses go
unchecked because of conflicts of interest that obstruct the whole process.

If you can find an honest lawyer, you are lucky.
Even the honest ones have to proceed with caution to avoid
getting slammed by the Goliath opposition if they don't work diplomatically
and tip toe around to follow all the rules and appease the powers that be.
Most lawyers won't even go there, but will avoid conflicts that could cost their careers.

 

[emilynghiem]

Callous asshole

Losing money makes you ans asshole. Who knew?

How is breaking even losing money?

It is called doing the right thing

I thought the issue was she never consented to have
the government take her house from here and sell it in the first place.
Much less keep the money.
Much less sell it to someone else who wants her to pay even more.

Especially if she didn't get the money from the sale
how is she expected to buy it back?

Am I missing something here?

 

[emilynghiem]

No he is a businessman.

Can I ask what kind of businessman are you
if you would allow someone to sell your house back to you
if you never agreed to have the govt seize it and sell it in the first place?

Sorry if I misunderstood.

If you want to set up a bullring thread
I would be glad to challenge you
and bet your house that you would object
* if the govt took your house and sold it without your consent
* and expected you to buy it back at full price

Wouldn't you argue that you didn't receive notice
and would rather pay the 200+ in back taxes and late fees?

Most business minded people would fight that in court.

Would you really go along with the govt's assertion that
it is your fault you didn't receive or respond to notices?

Wouldn't you fight for your right to notice, due process,
and opportunity to fix the mistake by paying off the delinquent amount?

Somehow, Politico, we must be talking about different points of information.

I don't see how you could agree to this,
unless you are purely discussing the "legal option" the
buyer has of selling the house at whatever price he sets?

Can you admit if you were the woman in this case,
you would fight legally to pay the owed amount to maintain ownership
BEFORE you would buy the house back at full price?