Property Tax Fraud – The game the Government plays
By Anonymous Lake County Resident
Most people are aware that they must pay property taxes, or they will lose their property.
Very few people know what happens when the property tax is based on a fraudulent
assessment of a properties value. So, let’s dig in. I will explain in laymen’s terms the
process and then give a real-world example.
If/when a property owner refuses, or is unable to pay a bill that is based on an obviously incorrect value the forfeiture process is started. First, the County forecloses on the property and attempts to sell it at a sheriff’s sale. The price is set at 66% of the assessed value (a 33% discount according to the County Auditor). If no person is willing to buy it at that price the property becomes forfeited to the State.
Just to understand, if no person is willing to buy a property at 66% of its “actual value” then clearly the “actual value” is not the actual value! One would think that the County Auditor would be required to fix the valuation, but no the State just takes the property.
I know what you are thinking this is rare and never happens. Well it happened ~500
times this week in Cuyahoga County, and it happens almost exclusively to the poor and elderly. Let me give you a real-world example of a property that I purchased at a Lake County ran forfeiture sale.
My elderly neighbor had a house on a double lot. The second lot was not buildable, yet it was taxed as buildable and at a value of $23,500. My neighbor living on social security could not afford the $498.20 tax bill. Multiple bills piled up and when this went to auction, she owed over $9,000 on an essentially worthless lot. Numerous buildable vacant lot sales in this neighborhood had occurred in the previous years and sale prices averaged under $7,000… Obviously, the assessed value was not close to correct. My 80+ year old neighbor did not have the ability to fight this through the BOR (Board of Revisions). So, the property was auctioned off at a sheriff’s sale, but the County could not sell it at the $15,510 price because that was still double the actual value of the property (assuming it was buildable which it wasn’t). The property was then forfeited to the State and Lake County sold it to me for $400. My neighbor was barred by law from buying it back.
Once I was the official owner of the property, I immediately asked the County to
reassess the property value based on my purchase price and they gladly did. My tax
bill for the property? $8.48 per year. My neighbor’s tax bill for the same property
$498.20 per year. When it was determined that the property was only worth $400, why was she not given the opportunity to pay the back taxes at the correct rate? Why was she not allowed to bid on her property at auction? This my friends is not a fair system; it is designed to punish both the poor and those who don’t play along.
No one should lose their property due to fraudulent value assessments, especially when the County has clear and actual knowledge of the fraudulent value assessments.
Our representatives are not able to fix this broken system, so therefore we must vote to abolish it. If we cannot tax property fairly and honestly then we should not be able to tax property at all.
Editorial Comments by Brian Massie, A Watchman on the Wall
Sorry, but we are mad as hell, and are not going to take it anymore. This actual event has fired us up even more, and we will let the people know.
Note to Lake County Republicans – are you for the people or not? Stop “flapping your gums” and pretending to support the people of Lake County.
You are unwilling to stand on the front lines for the people. When you have a sitting State Senator that has declared war on the people and a County Treasurer that is a Socialist in support of an ever-increasing government, it is no wonder people are losing faith in the Party.
Categories: Community Activism, Contributors, Lake, Lake County - General, Lake County Politics