frenchtoast
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maine
Actual quote from the letter:
"Tax Collector's Notice, Lien Claim and Demand 30 day Notice"
"Do not disregard this notice. You will lose your property unless you pay your 2009 taxes, interest and costs. You may apply to the municipal officers for an abatement of taxes if, because of poverty and infirmity, You cannot pay the taxes that have been assessed."
Background:
My elderly father has a reverse mortgage. Due to the bad stock market and serious unforeseen medical problems, he has not paid his local property taxes for 2009. The letter says that he might lose his home over this but in another part of the letter it says that he might have a lien placed against his home. The demand is for him to pay in thirty days. Which is likely to happen, a lien or the immediate loss of his property? The letter's loss of property sounds like a rather fishy immediate threat to me but it is really stressing out my elderly and very ill father.
The reason for this problem is that he wasn't planning on leaving his house in August but this past March instead. He is waiting his doctor to decide if he needs another major surgery or can he put it off for a year and move in with his sister. A year from now would give him plenty of time to find another specialist in the new state that could perform the surgery. He is hoping he will know when he meets with his doctor again in late July -2 days after the 30 day deadline given to him for his taxes.
Should he just wait and do nothing because no matter what he will run completely out of money for even electricity by around September and have to move out anyway so it doesn't matter what they try to do to him? Should he call and ask for an abatement due to poverty and infirmity? If he got an abatement would he have to agree to pay the township at least some of the money? Wouldn't it be better for my father to notify the reverse mortgage company and have them deal with a lien against the property when they reclaim it and sell it? So what happens now?
Actual quote from the letter:
"Tax Collector's Notice, Lien Claim and Demand 30 day Notice"
"Do not disregard this notice. You will lose your property unless you pay your 2009 taxes, interest and costs. You may apply to the municipal officers for an abatement of taxes if, because of poverty and infirmity, You cannot pay the taxes that have been assessed."
Background:
My elderly father has a reverse mortgage. Due to the bad stock market and serious unforeseen medical problems, he has not paid his local property taxes for 2009. The letter says that he might lose his home over this but in another part of the letter it says that he might have a lien placed against his home. The demand is for him to pay in thirty days. Which is likely to happen, a lien or the immediate loss of his property? The letter's loss of property sounds like a rather fishy immediate threat to me but it is really stressing out my elderly and very ill father.
The reason for this problem is that he wasn't planning on leaving his house in August but this past March instead. He is waiting his doctor to decide if he needs another major surgery or can he put it off for a year and move in with his sister. A year from now would give him plenty of time to find another specialist in the new state that could perform the surgery. He is hoping he will know when he meets with his doctor again in late July -2 days after the 30 day deadline given to him for his taxes.
Should he just wait and do nothing because no matter what he will run completely out of money for even electricity by around September and have to move out anyway so it doesn't matter what they try to do to him? Should he call and ask for an abatement due to poverty and infirmity? If he got an abatement would he have to agree to pay the township at least some of the money? Wouldn't it be better for my father to notify the reverse mortgage company and have them deal with a lien against the property when they reclaim it and sell it? So what happens now?