Mitch Goldstein | Coach Mitch | May 25th, 2008Property tax letter “a scam or just short of it”
WNDU.com Monday, May 13, 2008
Playing off of foreclosure fears?
Berrien County’s Treasurer fears that someone may be trying to use the foreclosure crisis to their financial advantage.
The cause of all the concern is a letter. At best, the letter could be described as inaccurate and misguided, at worst; it could be part of an attempted scam.
There’s no doubt it has been a bad year for property tax foreclosures in Berrien County. They’re up 74-percent over last year.
“We got a letter in the mail from a person in Benton Harbor that wanted to buy a piece of our property that they thought was in tax foreclosure,” said Berrien Springs resident Lonna Johnson. “It is not in tax foreclosure”
The letter they received came from an alleged Realtor, and it states “the records of the County Treasurer’s office show that this property is delinquent in its real property taxes, and that it could be sold at the county’s next tax sale.”
“This is to me, a scam or just short of it,” said Bret Witkowski. As Berrien County Treasurer, it’s Witkowski’s job to keep track of who really is behind on their bills.
Witkowski says that while the Johnson’s are $3.49 behind on their tax bills, but that it would be years before the situation put the couple in any danger of being part of the tax foreclosure sale.
“And I really think (it’s) trying to scare people into giving away their property for nothing, because they think they’re going to lose it, and that’s not the case,” said Witkowski.
The next page included a quit claim deed that the property owner was asked to sign and notarize. In exchange, the Realtor would make the tax delinquency go away. On the surface it looked like the Realtor was offering to help the couple, but some fear, he was really out to help himself.
“… I was worried about other people who maybe didn’t know it was a fraudulent letter,” said Lonna Johnson.
See full article at: http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/18906979.html
********************
Coach Mitch’s REFLECTIONS
Shame on you Mr. Tax Collector
It is the county treasurer, e.g. the tax collector, who is defrauding,misapplying and misstating law and citizens are falling for it.
The Realtor has done nothing illegal nor wrong. The taxes are legally delinquent. The Realtor was finding out if the owner wanted to sell and provided a deed in order to facilitate the process. This is nothing more than aggressive salesmanship.
Government should be defensive not offensive
It is not the governments business to worry if someone is being taken advantage of – until after it has happened. That smacks of Big Brotherism. Unfortunately, there are those demanding that we protect people from their own ideas. People are not stupid. To govern so that no one makes a mistake turns us into exactly the kind of country that most run away from. Governmental interference in private affairs becomes endemic. Just look at the fiasco in Texas and the ALDS.
If this radio station were to send you a letter offering to personally expose your actions unless you did an advertising campaign, it would be allowed under the 1st Amendment. Therefore, why is this letter from the Realtor not seen as a Freedom of Speech issue?
County Tax Collector’s are hypocritical all the time
The Tax Collector is the most reviled public office holder. They do nothing positive. They are seen as a negative. To ameliorate this public view, they routinely ask voters if they have taken some advantage given in law like, “Are you a veteran? There is a special exemption for veterans.” Then, invariably, they will make the next statement, “I’m just trying to get your taxes down as low as possible.” Of course, the tax collector is thinking, “I hope you won’t think I’m the devil and you’ll still vote for me next election.”
Whenever this type of letter appears from a real estate investor, the Tax Collector always goes public and makes a scene of being outraged. They try to portray themselves as the Defenders of Good. Almost any reference to the tax auction is labeled as fraud or hype or “a scam,” unless the tax auction is about to occur. At that point, with no exceptions, they say, “We told Mrs. Smith what the consequences would be if she didn’t pay her taxes. We tried to work with her and gave her lots of time.”
The absolutely last thing that the Tax Collector wants is to be associated with a little old lady being thrown into the street because she could not pay her property taxes. Politicians have no problem taxing and spending. And, being true to the hypocrites that they are, politicians do not want to be seen as bankrupting a taxpayer. Therefore, they jump to the taxpayers defense any time some enterprising but bumbling investor tries to market to a person in a “situation.”
The right wrong
The real wrong is that a property tax exists at all. I can make a credible argument that the property tax is not constitutional.
The US Constitution mandates that the reason for the government to exist is to defend a citizen’s life, liberty, and property from theft or incursion. The biggest thief in human history is government. Our government was created to defend citizens from our own government. This is a heady idea that no school child learns.
We better be careful
The defense of a citizen’s property is mandated several times in the US Constitution. That means, to me, that the founders held real property in very high esteem. Men believe that liberty is created when we have our own property. Men fight and die to defend or to acquire property. In fact, the ability to acquire and defend our property is the most important right a person has. The second most important right people have is their right to have the weapons needed for self-defense, such as guns.
Our rights to property have been diluted to almost nothing. Under the banner of community planning, consumer protection and environmentalism, the constitutional bans on regulating property have vanished and the Supreme Court has allowed it.
Teachers are bleeding US
Teachers’ unions are the strongest unions in the country because they are tied directly to the power of taxation. Lately, fully one third of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention have been teachers. Because of the onerous amount of property taxation, state legislatures are beginning to seek different ways to stop bleeding homeowners.
The time is ripe
The national rate of home foreclosures is very high. The rate of tax foreclosure is also rising. I do not care for the idea that fellow citizens are losing their home or their property; however, in every financial situation there is opportunity. The counties are not stopping tax foreclosures. Property tax laws remain and they are vigorously enforced. Just as you would seek to buy bonds when interest rates are going up, you should consider the opportunity that tax delinquent property affords.
Coach Mitch’s “Ridiculously Simple System…” has proven to be a very effective way to take advantage of the current financial situation.
The government is looking after itself. They “tax and tax and spend and spend.” Elected officials will bemoan what is happening to the electorate. Every utterance is replete with “I feel your pain.” like statements and the idea that, “We have to find a way to fix this situation.” Of course they don’t offer any sound solutions.
Be warned –
If you are going to write a marketing letter like the above, you might warn the tax collector and the county attorney, because they are going to get complaints, and government will respond. One person I know had that state’s attorney general call him to “not do it anymore.” I advise my students not to do this type of marketing. I don’t want my students to get this kind of negative publicity.
See Coach Mitch’s “Ridiculously Simple System…” ™ for details.
Move forward with planning,
Leave a Reply