resisting condemnations

[kzworld]

We are Canadian and are having difficulty with a property my husband owns in Maine. He used to live there and worked for the railway until his Green Card expired and an American got his job so he was forced to move home to Ontario. He left behind a property which has had tenants (who we are still in touch with) but has been empty for years (except for personal property). We have recently received a notice of a public meeting about our property (the notice arrived a month after the actual meeting so we were not in attendance)...we have faxed the municipality saying we want to resist and will be visiting soon to see what is necessary...I only just found out (through this site) that condemnation means the municipality takes the house...I thought it meant we would have to fix it up to meet a building code or something.
I need to know what I need to have with me to act with "power of attorney" for my husband when I travel to Maine to deal with this issue...he will not be travelling with me.
I also need to know if I should retain a lawyer to handle this and if a lawyer can also handle IRS issues my husband has (he was charged for capital gains when he sold a previous house in Maine and the government never gave him credit for buying the house he still owns)...

Please help, we are desperate for assistance as the whole matter seems out of our hands and is at such a distance. Kate

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kzworld:
We are Canadian and are having difficulty with a property my husband owns in Maine. He used to live there and worked for the railway until his Green Card expired and an American got his job so he was forced to move home to Ontario. He left behind a property which has had tenants (who we are still in touch with) but has been empty for years (except for personal property). We have recently received a notice of a public meeting about our property (the notice arrived a month after the actual meeting so we were not in attendance)...we have faxed the municipality saying we want to resist and will be visiting soon to see what is necessary...I only just found out (through this site) that condemnation means the municipality takes the house...I thought it meant we would have to fix it up to meet a building code or something.
I need to know what I need to have with me to act with "power of attorney" for my husband when I travel to Maine to deal with this issue...he will not be travelling with me.
I also need to know if I should retain a lawyer to handle this and if a lawyer can also handle IRS issues my husband has (he was charged for capital gains when he sold a previous house in Maine and the government never gave him credit for buying the house he still owns)...

Please help, we are desperate for assistance as the whole matter seems out of our hands and is at such a distance. Kate<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You need to hire a real estate attorney that practices in the State of Maine where the property is located. You also need to hire a tax attorney or CPA in any State.

 

[kzworld]

Okay, well that's fairly obvious. But do I need to wait until I've hired a lawyer to have myself put in a position to act with power of attorney for my husband? I want to have that power before going and need to know what is recognized in Maine...do I just take a letter signed and witnessed stating I am allowed to act on his behalf or what?

 

[Tracey]

The Power of Attorney should be signed & notarized & give you the power to handle the condemnation defense, sell the property, negotiate any payment amount, and any other powers necessary to accomplish those goals. You'll need a separate POA for the tax stuff. If it's been over 3 years since you filed the tax return with the capital gains, it's too late to file an amended return.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws. [email protected] - please include some facts so I know who you are!

 

[kzworld]

Okay, from your response I'll assume I may have the POA's done here in Canada by an attorney (two separate one for the property issue and one for the tax problems)...I'll check with our lawyer here about how specific they need to be...perhaps a listing of allowable actions on my part (for my husband).

The taxes were filed long ago...and then were never amended since my husband moved back to Canada...so, you can imagine the whopping amount of money the IRS says we owe them...with interest!