Published: 5/5/2022 3:51:29 PM
Modified: 5/5/2022 3:49:57 PM
Between the City Council and the mayor, I think that there should be some plan for ending our practice of grabbing home equity, when we take title to a family’s home for back taxes.
The tax collector claims that only in “very rare instances do we make money.” It would be more helpful and more transparent if the tax collector made an annual report to all citizens showing how many properties we have taken in the past year and how much equity we took that was not owed us. Forty-two properties were on the April 15 list in the Recorder.
The system we have now is unjust. The government cannot simply take families’ property without “just compensation” and without even a hearing. That’s in the U.S. and Massachusetts constitutions.
Where are our government leaders on this? Why are they not resolving this policy? Why aren’t they helping our citizens figure out ways to pay their taxes incrementally?
Michelle De Lisio
Greenfield
Source: https://www.recorder.com/ltr-De-Liso-Home-Equity-for-Back-Taxes-46227405