What are my rights with a tax lien?

[Pro2A]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

This is my first post here and I hope someone can help me with this issue. A little background on this first; I used to live in Maryland from 1999 - 2004. I have since moved to Pennsylvania (and happily I may add) in 2005. I rent a townhouse, so I don't own a house or any property for that matter. I have a loan out on a car that I am current on. My wife's car is in her name. Otherwise I have no other assets.

I put a lot of thought into the wording of this in case the state is watching. I wanted to secure my 5th Amendment right to not self incriminate, so here goes...

I'm not going to get into the details of how all this transpired, but long story short I've been going back and forth with the state of Maryland on a supposed tax they claim that I owe. They claim I owe $893 dollars in taxes, interest and penalties from 2004. I know it seems small, but it's big to me. That is what I make in 2 weeks, so $893 dollars is a lot to me. I make enough to live comfortable, but by no means do I live luxurious. I'm just a regular blue collar worker that wants to live his life and be left alone. Anyway, I have disputed that claim for some time now. The last notice I got was in April at my current address. Again I disputed it with them and didn't hear anything about it until Saturday.

I got a notice that there was a lien of judgment against my property. The fishy thing is I never got a notice for a court date. If I had gotten one I would have gone and proved to the judge that I did not owe the $893 dollars as they claimed. I called up the comptrollers office and I asked the lady why I never got a notice about a court date. She said they sent it to my last known address in June. I asked what address that was and she told me my previous address. I called her on that because I got a notice in the mail that I supposedly owed $800 dollars in April at my current address. So now she was telling me that they knew my current address in April but not in June? She couldn't answer it and I told her my lawyer would be in touch. To me that would be denial of due process.

At any rate I ended up pretty upset because now there is a lien on my supposed property. I have contacted a tax lawyer and he told me it's too small of an amount and it would be easier to pay it. I don't agree because I have disputed this for some time now. It seems as if the state is trying to strong arm me. The notice says specifically this:

"Notice of lien of judgment is hereby given and a judgment lien is taken in favor of the state of Maryland (for claimed tax) extending to and covering all property and all rights to property, real and personal as long as said lien is not fully satisfied and discharged..."

Can someone explain to me what the heck is going on here? What exactly is a lien and what are my rights in this situation? How do I settle this? I've been going around in circles with these clowns since the beginning of this. I just want this monkey off my back. Another side note is that I checked my credit report today and this lien is not on there.

Thanks for the help!

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

This is my first post here and I hope someone can help me with this issue. A little background on this first; I used to live in Maryland from 1999 - 2004. I have since moved to Pennsylvania (and happily I may add) in 2005. I rent a townhouse, so I don't own a house or any property for that matter. I have a loan out on a car that I am current on. My wife's car is in her name. Otherwise I have no other assets.

I put a lot of thought into the wording of this in case the state is watching. I wanted to secure my 5th Amendment right to not self incriminate, so here goes...

I'm not going to get into the details of how all this transpired, but long story short I've been going back and forth with the state of Maryland on a supposed tax they claim that I owe. They claim I owe $893 dollars in taxes, interest and penalties from 2004. I know it seems small, but it's big to me. That is what I make in 2 weeks, so $893 dollars is a lot to me. I make enough to live comfortable, but by no means do I live luxurious. I'm just a regular blue collar worker that wants to live his life and be left alone. Anyway, I have disputed that claim for some time now. The last notice I got was in April at my current address. Again I disputed it with them and didn't hear anything about it until Saturday.

I got a notice that there was a lien of judgment against my property. The fishy thing is I never got a notice for a court date. If I had gotten one I would have gone and proved to the judge that I did not owe the $893 dollars as they claimed. I called up the comptrollers office and I asked the lady why I never got a notice about a court date. She said they sent it to my last known address in June. I asked what address that was and she told me my previous address. I called her on that because I got a notice in the mail that I supposedly owed $800 dollars in April at my current address. So now she was telling me that they knew my current address in April but not in June? She couldn't answer it and I told her my lawyer would be in touch. To me that would be denial of due process.

At any rate I ended up pretty upset because now there is a lien on my supposed property. I have contacted a tax lawyer and he told me it's too small of an amount and it would be easier to pay it. I don't agree because I have disputed this for some time now. It seems as if the state is trying to strong arm me. The notice says specifically this:

"Notice of lien of judgment is hereby given and a judgment lien is taken in favor of the state of Maryland (for claimed tax) extending to and covering all property and all rights to property, real and personal as long as said lien is not fully satisfied and discharged..."

Can someone explain to me what the heck is going on here? What exactly is a lien and what are my rights in this situation? How do I settle this? I've been going around in circles with these clowns since the beginning of this. I just want this monkey off my back. Another side note is that I checked my credit report today and this lien is not on there.

Thanks for the help!

The lien will eventually make it to your credit report. They can also levy your bank account, put a lien on your car, and any other asset they can find.

The tax attorney is telling you that its too small to fight, (at least with the help of an attorney) because that would cost you more than paying it off.

Without being able to review your evidence and what documentation you have sent to them, I could not tell you whether or not you have any chance of further fighting this.

You could see if Maryland has a state taxpayer's advocate office and see if they could provide you any assistance.

 

[Pro2A]

Most of this back and forth was on the phone. In retrospect I know that phone calls hold no water I have all my W-2's, tax forms and booklets from that year, all the notices they sent and from what dates. Then now I have the notice of a judgment lien.

My beef is that I was never given notice of a court date. To me that is denial of due process to present my side of the case. Do you think it's possible now after the lien notice to attempt to settle in writing for say 50% of the "debt" just to get this monkey off my back? I live paycheck to paycheck and there is no way I can cough up $893 all at once or even with a payment plan. I have just enough to pay my bills now and this is after cutting "entertainment bills" out of the budget. $400 is a little more reasonable and could possibly be done, but they are just being obstinate.

 

[FlyingRon]

Further, interest and penalties are not abated because you're burying your head in the sand. Since you chose not to explain your situation to us, we'll have to side with the lawyer you did confide in. Without knowing just what sort of tax this is, what the various timelines were, we can't even begin to tell you if you have a chance to fight it.

If you properly contested it through the comptroller, then you can appeal through the state tax court if you didn't allow things to string out too far.
Here's the info:

http://www.txcrt.state.md.us/randp/procedur.html

 

[Proserpina]

Most of this back and forth was on the phone. In retrospect I know that phone calls hold no water I have all my W-2's, tax forms and booklets from that year, all the notices they sent and from what dates. Then now I have the notice of a judgment lien.

My beef is that I was never given notice of a court date. To me that is denial of due process to present my side of the case. Do you think it's possible now after the lien notice to attempt to settle in writing for say 50% of the "debt" just to get this monkey off my back? I live paycheck to paycheck and there is no way I can cough up $893 all at once or even with a payment plan. I have just enough to pay my bills now and this is after cutting "entertainment bills" out of the budget. $400 is a little more reasonable and could possibly be done, but they are just being obstinate.

Unlike virtually every other creditor in the country, the IRS does not actually need to go to court in order to levy/attach your assets.

You usually get that one notice - the "intent to levy" - and that's all they need.

 

[FlyingRon]

Unlike virtually every other creditor in the country, the IRS does not actually need to go to court in order to levy/attach your assets.

It's not the IRS, it's Peter Franchot, Comptroller and the fine Maryland government he's up against. The the gist is still the same. The lien is assigned in an administrative action.

 

[Pro2A]

Someone suggested a pro bono attorney due to the fact that I was denied due process and I basically caught them in a lie.

What exactly is a pro bono attorney?

 

[Proserpina]

Someone suggested a pro bono attorney due to the fact that I was denied due process and I basically caught them in a lie.

What exactly is a pro bono attorney?

That would be an attorney who will take your case without payment.

You really need to re-read the thread though - you were not, according to current MD law, denied due process.