Woman gets letter saying her home has been sold over property taxes – but she has proof she never missed a bill
Due to a procedural error, a homeowner who never missed a tax payment had her property sold behind her back.
After reading a horrifying letter stating that she owed the new owner years’ rent, Robin McElroy almost broke down in tears.
The resident has documentation proving she hasn’t missed any property tax payments since purchasing her home in Chicago, Illinois, in 2012.
Nevertheless, the Cook County treasurer’s office continued to send her harassing letters, threatening to sell her property.
When Cook County officials looked into the bills in April 2019, they discovered that her neighbor had changed her PIN on the assessor’s website.
McElroy felt that the issue had been resolved when the treasurer’s office stated that there was no justification for selling her house.
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But five years later, she received another letter informing her that she owed the new owner years’ worth of rent because her house had been sold without warning.
She said, “I pay my bills,” to CBS News.
I dislike squandering money. That “stupid tax” is not something I pay.
The county once more claimed that her problem was “delinquent taxes,” but McElroy claimed that the officials had tricked the new owner into approving the transaction nonetheless.
“This lady should not have to be put in this position to go through all of this headache and heartache,” she stated.
As it happens, Cook County was correct in 2019 regarding the PIN issue.
My car was sold without my knowledge after I took it to the shop – and mechanic even tried to blame me for his mistake
According to CBS News, the only issue is that no one really got into the system to correct it.
The problem has been resolved, according to county officials, and McElroy is free to keep her home.
In spite of the years of back and forth, the resident is still watchful.
“This is somebody’s property that they paid for, that they’re living in,” she continued.
She has consulted a lawyer to get guidance on her next course of action.
“All day long, you guys can blame each other. She remarked, “I don’t care.”
“I want what’s rightfully owned to me.”
If homeowners settle their debts, they will always be able to regain their homes from a tax sale.
Read More on The US Sun
After one buyer’s house sold out of his grasp and he didn’t receive any of the proceeds, there is drama.
And because of a bill that wasn’t hers, a mother’s house only brought $12,000 when it was sold.
How can your home be sold without your consent?
There are other reasons why your house can be sold without you, but here are three important ones to watch out for:
Tax Sale
- A tax sale is the sale of property by a governmental entity to recover unpaid taxes by the owner who has reached a certain point of delinquency in their owed payments.
- Before a tax sale takes place, there is a right-of-redemption period where the owner can pay off their debt and reclaim their home.
- Each state has different laws surrounding tax sales but in most areas, the basic requirement is that adequate notice is given to the owner to pay the outstanding money, and any sale must be open to the public.
The foreclosure process
- Foreclosures can take place when lenders take control of a property after borrowers have failed to make their repayments.
- Borrowers will receive a Notice of Default, triggering the foreclosure process.
- Homeowners in HOA communities can also see their homes foreclosed by their HOA for falling behind on fees.
- This means that even if you keep up with mortgage repayments, you could still lose your home if your HOA has a lien on your property.
- When such a foreclosure takes place, the sale price only needs to be enough to cover the HOA debt meaning that properties can be sold for much less than they are worth.
Fraud involving Property
- Criminals can use a fake or stolen ID to impersonate a homeowner in order to sell or mortgage homes.
- Typical targets for property fraud include absent owners like landlords, owners who live abroad, and sole owners of unmortgaged homes.
- The U.S. Sun previously reported on a man whose vacation home worth $300,000 was sold by criminals for just $9,000 – they even had the deed to the property.
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