To pay property taxes, or not?

[sixmile]

We do not escrow for insurance or property taxes and the bill is coming due. Many thousands to pay in a lump sum (county does not take payments), thinking of holding onto the cash for awhile. Any others in this boat?

[Oregone]

1. Thats a tax Id never avoid paying personally...

That money is used right at home, in the schools, on the roads, contracting the projects to local workers usually. Just saying.

Also, I wouldn't want to give the county grounds to put a lien against your home.

[hobbit709]

2. How bad you want to keep your property?

If they seize it for unpaid taxes it can sold for the taxes due and whoever buys it gets it cheap.

[sixmile]

10. That's not exactly how it works

They sell the debt to third party securitizers and it takes about two years for any tax lien sale to happen, or you can pay them with interest.
Cash is king, right now.

[hobbit709]

20. Depends on what state you're in.

[NMDemDist2]

3. it may be worth asking the assessor to make sure you aren't paying too much

but I never consider not paying my property tax

[earth mom]

4. They can take your property for unpaid taxes. nt

[tammywammy]

5. Pay n/t

[Parker CA]

6. You can be delinquent on property taxes for a couple of years depending on where you live,

but eventually you will have to pay them and the lump sum will only increase. I'd pay them sooner than later if you have the money. If you don't have the money, that's an entirely different issue and you might be forced to hold-off longer than desired.

[Not Me]

9. Ask John and Cindy McCain

Seems they went 4 1/2 years before it became an issue...and then he was running for President.

[ThomWV]

7. We have been behind a number of times, even had the property "sold" for taxes

Don't let it go too far, it can be a pain in the ass to buy your place back after its been sold (you usually have a year to redeem it). Oh, and of course there are interest penalties.

[panader0]

8. Here if you are over one year late, your tax bill is sold.

The buyer can charge a huge interest rate (like 28-30 I think) and if you don't pat that bill within a year, your land is his. My 16 acres and house are my main asset. I will always try to keep current. I bitch because, as my property value drops, my taxes go up.

[Mind_your_head]

11. Go talk with your country assessors office - find out how it works in YOUR County

What interest rates and/or penalties (if any) will be applied and how long they will let them go unpaid before your property is sold for the taxes.

Once you have that information, you can make a better determination about your own personal situation.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

12. Will your insurance company

take payments? Sucks that your county won't allow it for property tax, although ours only lets people over 65 make the bi-monthly payments, Jan through July. When we re-fied last year, we took over the insurance and tax. Used some of the money we got out of the deal to set up a savings account for the purpose. Had enough to make the payments which just came due, but choose to do the bi-monthly on the tax since we could (Mr 'pede is old) and leave some (not much) in the savings acct. Time to start saving for next year.

[HereSince1628]

13. My family lost two farms due to failure to pay property tax in the way-back

The loss of those assets was seen as disasters that set back two generations.

As a kid I weeded irises with my mother's father, he would mumble that the only thing that is really durable is land.

As a kid I picked green beans with my father's mother, she would mumble that the thing that puts you in charge of your life is the land.

Granted, they were raised in a time when most people lived on farms, and things are not quite the same.

Helping your descendants move ahead means living life as an ancestor with a truly long term view of things.

Pay your bill or not, but consider what is best over both the long term and short term.

[KharmaTrain]

14. Call Your Police & Fire Departments...

See if it's OK with them if you withhold your taxes, then ask them if that would affect them coming to protect you.

The big blow that is coming is the drop in state and local taxes...groups that have been struggling during the booosh years and saw their tax bases cut by his tax breaks to the rich and then a ton of unfunded mandates. And these are the people you want to withhold from?

In our area, property taxes can be paid in installments...but paid they are. It's one thing if you were unable to pay, it's another to "hold onto the cash".

[blondeatlast]

29. Plus the teacher across the street, the librarian, the water services worker...

It's unconscionable to me not to pay property taxes.

:thumbsup:, KT.

[cosmik debris]

15. Been there, done that, cost me bundles.

Penalty, interest, and late fees, are serious.

Wait too long and they will put a lien on your house. The you can add legal fees too.

It WILL catch up to you.

[DesertFlower]

16. mine are due march 1,

but it says there delinquent after may 1. i'm thinking about not paying them till april. better the money in my bank account making a small amount of interest.

[Vinca]

17. If you don't pay property taxes, how do you expect local government

to pay the bills? Money doesn't come out of the sky on a flaming pie.

[EFerrari]

18. You may find they will soon be taking payments. I'd ask around. n/t

[sixmile]

19. I'm getting that feeling, too

Taxes in our county become delinquent on March 31. I'm waiting to see the news reports on tax bill deliquencies (they will be historic).
Maybe then the counties will have to do some belt tightenting just like the taxpayers have.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. don't know where you are, BUT this stuff varies considerably from state to state

within a state, all the counties follow the same basic rules regarding installments, due dates, number of years you can be late without being in default and at risk for losing the property.

So you need to call your Tax Authority, or just check their website. The website will tell you a lot. I know, for example, that tax foreclosure can happen really fast in the Southeastern states; not so fast in the Western States. Five years in California. There are a whole series of legal things a county has to do along the way to foreclosure too.

I was a Tax and Escrow specialist for a Major Lender for 3 and 1/2 years, and dealt with tax problems many times per day. There are many solutions to this problem. You can escrow for taxes only, taxes and insurance together, but not insurance alone.

Be advised that if your lender finds out your home may be at risk for loss due to taxes, they may pay the taxes and set up an escrow account for you. If the taxing authority knows the home is mortgaged, the lender may be advised the taxes are late automatically. But believe me your lender KNOWS the deadlines and requirements for your state and checking the non escrowed accounts for tax issues. The escrowed ones are no problem they are paid by the lender.

Our policy was this: taxes are late in a state with a 1 year default period, no bargaining leeway.. We would contact homeowner by mail, advising that if they had paid since our information was received, to just provide proof. Then if no proof was received in 30 days, then we would send another letter (somewhat sterner), giving the homeowner a certain amt of time to pay or we would. So if it wasn't paid, we would pay the taxes, and establish an escrow account for the back taxes and the future taxes and increase the monthly payment.
If this presented a problem for the homeowner, we had the discretion to divide the total amount being escrowed by 24, 36, 48 or 60 months to reduce the monthly impact. If the homeowner came up with some money to apply to that, then when we received it we would reset the monthly payment again.

Some lenders will allow you to request your taxes be paid as long as you establish and maintain an escrow account for the future. So if your taxes are $2000 and you can come up with $500 right away, and the county won't take anything but $2000, then you put the $500 in the escrow account and the lender pays the taxes and you just pay it out in installments. When you are all caught up on the back taxes your payment will go down.

I prefer having an escrow account, I always have. I am not really disciplined enough to know for certain I will always have that money available when it is due, so I pay it monthly to my lender and that takes care of that.

[Thothmes]

22. Property taxes support the schools and other local

government opertions. Maybe instead of not paying them, talk to the tax authorities and see if you can work out a compromise.

[ejpoeta]

23. we don't have escrow either.

one year we even got so far as having our lateness listed in the paper and them send us a letter. that was the year we moved back i think. we had bought the place with bob's brother. then we moved out and came back a couple of years later. and they only let the taxes get so far behind. we scrimped and scrounged enough money together to get it caught up except one year i think, then got caught up the following year. that is one thing that we make a priority. we do pay late, because we pay with our income taxes. but I want a roof over my head, so....

[SoCalDem]

24. Sounds like a plan..if you plan to rent an apartment somewhere

With tax revenues down, they will be paying close attention to non-payers :scared:

[old mark]

25. Here in PA, the sheriff will come around and evict you from your

house, then sell it at auction within a few months of your non-payment.

mark

[MadHound]

26. I would say that you're a twice over fool if you fail to pay your taxes

First a fool for not setting up an escrow account, and secondly a fool for not paying your taxes. What, do you want to lose your home?

Pay your taxes, set up an escrow account and keep your house.

[wartrace]

27. I have to pay tax & insurance every year- no mortgage.

That is ONE bill I pay the day I get the notice in October. I do not want to get involved in that whole tax sale/sheriff showing up at the door thing. I am getting laid off in May & I plan on putting away two years worth of property tax just in case.

[zagging]

28. And thus, the fallacy of home ownership is debunked once again

Pay or we will move you to the street shortly.

[blondeatlast]

30. I can't believe I'm even reading this on a progressive message board.

So much for "acting locally." :eyes: