MI-Widowed mother of three, loses home that was a TV "makeover" project ten years ago

[ghengis86]

I finally got our township treasurer to agree that it's rent. I just said, it's rent and if I don't pay it, I'll get evicted and she agreed that it's rent.

What I don't understand is, how is it that the home that widow had, suddenly required more money to do road maintenance, trash pickup, fire protection and school? It was on the same property as the home she had a year before. Strange how they want to reward people for fixing up their homes, by making their rent go up.

I always thought the same and use that line of thinking to show people that aside from being rent, property taxes based on asses value is flawed. Do the cops/firefighters respond any differently? Are muh roads more specialer? The vast majority of property taxes goes to education; what if I have no children? Is any priority given to me when I go file paperwork at the county building? No? Didn't think so.

I have convinced several people that you don't own your land if you have to pay property taxes. That's fairly easy for people to grasp. The problem is getting them to make the leap to the solution that you should only pay for what you use. It's a bridge too far for them to cross, even when you point out that some roads today are privatized; all your utilities are semi-privatized; massive infrastructure (like cell phone networks, fiber optics, etc.) are installed by private parties. Why not everything else? And I know that a lot of these "private" companies get a government monopoly or benefit some way or another.

ETA: yeah, using your home as a piggy bank isn't smart. Staying in a locale where your prop taxes triple to $7500/yr also not smart.

[Chester Copperpot]

That's what it was?

thats what it looks like to me... of course her taxes probably went up because of the makeover too but if she didnt take out an extra $83k on her mortgage well she wouldnt have lost the house...

the minute she took out the $83,000 is when she really lost the house. like ron paul always says if you live above your means you will wind up living beneath your means to compensate.

[Chester Copperpot]

I always thought the same and use that line of thinking to show people that aside from being rent, property taxes based on asses value is flawed. Do the cops/firefighters respond any differently? Are muh roads more specialer? The vast majority of property taxes goes to education; what if I have no children? Is any priority given to me when I go file paperwork at the county building? No? Didn't think so.

I have convinced several people that you don't own your land if you have to pay property taxes. That's fairly easy for people to grasp. The problem is getting them to make the leap to the solution that you should only pay for what you use. It's a bridge too far for them to cross, even when you point out that some roads today are privatized; all your utilities are semi-privatized; massive infrastructure (like cell phone networks, fiber optics, etc.) are installed by private parties. Why not everything else? And I know that a lot of these "private" companies get a government monopoly or benefit some way or another.

ETA: yeah, using your home as a piggy bank isn't smart. Staying in a locale where your prop taxes triple to $7500/yr also not smart.

I think when originally instituted in the pennsylvania colony by Benjamin Franklin it was a decent idea... Of course it was only meant to include a means of protecting private property back then.. meaning just things like firefighting and police... the main component of property taxes now of course is education... and that $#@! is just off the chart.. i agree its completely flawed in there because that has no bearing of protection for the property.

[Chester Copperpot]

My sympathy is generally very little for people that buy more house than they rationally can afford. I'd be horrified if placed in the average persons brain. In my head, you shouldn't live in a house that costs more than you make in a year or 2 max. If that isn't possible in your area, well you are living in an area not designed for you. You should move, or figure out how to make more bitcoins. So, this woman, should have sold the house obviously, or rented out a portion, or whatever, but she's humping the dream!!!

However, with all that property taxes are to high, I was looking before and it works out more or less in 30 years or less around here you'd end paying the value of the house in property taxes. Buying a house is really just buying into a reduced rental plan. I've 0.0 want to live in a mcmansion in the suburbs, but bless those people they keep the economy grinding along, they have no choice but to make $#@!loads of bitcoins just to fund their retarded "fantasy" of life.

yeah sounds good to me. to me everybody should buy their house in cash.

[ghengis86]

yeah sounds good to me. to me everybody should buy their house in cash.

I sometimes think the opposite. Take on as much non-recourse debt as you can, lever up, take out a second mortgage if you can, use cash to buy gold/silver/lead etc. put it out of reach from the tax man or gov court and then just walk away. Give the keys back to the bank. Now, you'll basically be forced to pay cash for everything since your debt leave rating will be trashed, but who cares? If enough people did this willingly, you'd bring about an even great financial crisis than 2007/2008. And those were the unwilling people!

I have a guy that works for me out in California. Used to live in Nevada. Moved for the job. Lives in an RV. Loves it. The newer RV parks are like resorts; pools, gyms, cable, wifi, etc. you still pay for your spot to park and the various luxuries you want, but damn. Pack up and move to wherever you want within 30 days notice (sometimes even less). He gets a PO Box for mail and has most stuff sent electronically. Something like this has appeal to me. I would really miss having 10-30 acres of land, but just not paying property tax alone would be worth it.

This gal should have sold her home, downsized and gotten something more affordable. Obviously math isn't her strong point. Some people are destined to be poor due to their own inability to do math.

[Chester Copperpot]

I sometimes think the opposite. Take on as much non-recourse debt as you can, lever up, take out a second mortgage if you can, use cash to buy gold/silver/lead etc. put it out of reach from the tax man or gov court and then just walk away. Give the keys back to the bank. Now, you'll basically be forced to pay cash for everything since your debt leave rating will be trashed, but who cares? If enough people did this willingly, you'd bring about an even great financial crisis than 2007/2008. And those were the unwilling people!

I have a guy that works for me out in California. Used to live in Nevada. Moved for the job. Lives in an RV. Loves it. The newer RV parks are like resorts; pools, gyms, cable, wifi, etc. you still pay for your spot to park and the various luxuries you want, but damn. Pack up and move to wherever you want within 30 days notice (sometimes even less). He gets a PO Box for mail and has most stuff sent electronically. Something like this has appeal to me. I would really miss having 10-30 acres of land, but just not paying property tax alone would be worth it.

This gal should have sold her home, downsized and gotten something more affordable. Obviously math isn't her strong point. Some people are destined to be poor due to their own inability to do math.

youve got a certain logic in all that.. and i cant say i disagree with it either. i also can see how the mobile rv thing would appeal to some people as well.

[kcchiefs6465]

thats what it looks like to me... of course her taxes probably went up because of the makeover too but if she didnt take out an extra $83k on her mortgage well she wouldnt have lost the house...

the minute she took out the $83,000 is when she really lost the house. like ron paul always says if you live above your means you will wind up living beneath your means to compensate.

How much the taxes contributed to her financial burdens are up for debate. So in the limited amount that her life was damaged for the wasteful needs of the state, may they all get real goddamn jobs--the cretins.

[Dr.3D]

yeah sounds good to me. to me everybody should buy their house in cash.

Even if you did, just get behind on those "property taxes" (rent to the township) and you will be evicted. Can't win.

[angelatc]

thats what it looks like to me... of course her taxes probably went up because of the makeover too but if she didnt take out an extra $83k on her mortgage well she wouldnt have lost the house...

the minute she took out the $83,000 is when she really lost the house. like ron paul always says if you live above your means you will wind up living beneath your means to compensate.

I am in total agreement. But $7500 per annum is a lot of taxes for that house. We had a bigger, nicer house, probably on more land, and our taxes were only $2500 a year.

[DamianTV]

Taking out loans that take a lifetime to repay when your entire economy is built on a foundation of sand is never a good idea.

A lot of people want to blame her for "multiple bad decisions", but she does the same as we all do, hope that "things will improve" and expects "good paying jobs that last" when all we have seen increase in the last 8 years is minimum wage part time jobs that prevent people from having any financial stability, and no, owning a piece of paper that says youre smart doesnt help either. The jobs are not there. The economy is still in ruins. The middle class is nearly dead. Yet, we are told to "blame her bad decision making". There is a certain level of responsibility she would be expected to take, but certainly not 100% of her situation is her fault, neither is it 0%. Its somewhere in the middle.

I think what this has turned into is a spectacle for the youth to watch and the lesson learned is to "know when you are poor and have no future". The elimination of Hope is a foundation of Control thru Dependency.

[opal]

Yup...it's all rent and cease to pay and you will find yourself homeless.

I write "squatter's fee" in the memo section of property tax payments.

Wonder if anybody notices or even cares?

We wrote in *taxation is theft* last time