Chapter 60 “in its present form, is untenable and requires legislative correction”

"For the first time, a Massachusetts court has ruled that the way some municipalities pursue tax-taking cases against homeowners — a practice critics call “equity theft” — is unconstitutional.

The ruling comes in the wake of a unanimous US Supreme Court decision last year that said municipal and county governments may only recover the taxes owed, and not seize the remaining equity in the property.

Massachusetts is one of only a handful of states that presently allow local governments to take not only the taxes they are owed (plus interest and fees) but also the rest of the equity in properties.

Most often, the cases involve people who have inherited real estate and own it without a mortgage but lack the income to pay the taxes. In some instances, property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is taken by municipalities when the amount owed in taxes is a small fraction of that.

...... 

Massachusetts law is mostly silent on the question of equity, and in the absence of an explicit prohibition, some municipalities have assumed the right to keep the full equity, with few safeguards for property owners.

Callan, in his ruling, said the state law used by municipalities in tax-taking, known as Chapter 60, does not provide a recovery process and therefore is “unconstitutional as applied in circumstances, such as here, where the tax debt is less than the value of the property.”

Chapter 60 “in its present form, is untenable and requires legislative correction,” Callan wrote in his 19-page ruling."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/21/business/massachusetts-court-property-unpaid-taxes-equity-theft/

In 2017, the City of Greenfield targeted Stephen Woodbridge’s property for unpaid taxes of a little less than $6,000. Four years later, the city succeeded in gaining legal ownership of a property that had been in the Woodbridge family for 70 years. MATTHEW CAVANAUGH/FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Boston Globe Editorial: "Seizing home equity over unpaid taxes is unfair to homeowners"

State Representative Jeff Roy has co-sponsored legislation to avoid this and is mentioned in the article. 

"After Deborah Foss fell behind on property taxes on her two-unit house in New Bedford, the city sold her debt to an outside company, which pursued the $30,000 the retired grandmother owed.

But rather than simply recouping the debt, according to her lawyers, Foss fell victim to an overly punitive state law that cost her the entire house, valued at $241,600 — far more than was needed to settle her debt — and left her temporarily homeless last winter.

Massachusetts is one of a dozen states that allows a practice critics refer to as “home equity theft.” If a home is foreclosed on due to unpaid property taxes, the municipality — or a company that buys the tax debt — can sell the home and keep the profit, even if the sale price is more than the taxpayer owes.

The system often disproportionately and unfairly punishes elderly homeowners. Of course, people need to pay taxes. Municipalities should be allowed to recoup the costs they incur in collecting those taxes if a homeowner is delinquent, including by seizing a home."

Continue reading the Editorial by the Boston Globe (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/12/opinion/seizing-home-equity-over-unpaid-taxes-is-unfair-homeowners/

Read the PDF version of the editorial here -> 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fjTngwbzsrnpJHduQiXzMjh84N1fEYvk/view?usp=share_link

BOSTON GLOBE; BAURKA/CANDY1812/ADOBE

Boston Globe: "private companies can make a killing, legally, if you can’t keep up with your property taxes"

"On Nov. 11, Mark Mucciaccio answered the door at his home in Easton to a woman who said she had been sent by the property’s “owner” to change the locks on the doors.

The woman handed him a “to whom it may concern” letter that said the house, which Mucciaccio, 58, and his brother, Neil, 55, inherited from their late parents many years ago, was now owned by a company called Tallage Lincoln LLC.

The three-sentence letter cited a “final” court judgment giving the company ownership, but said nothing about taxes. Still, Mucciaccio had no doubt it came as a result of the thousands of dollars he owed in property taxes, dating back to 2016."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/18/business/mass-private-companies-can-make-killing-legally-if-you-cant-keep-up-with-your-property-taxes/

Town Council - Agenda - associated documents

The Town Council has an interesting set of discussions coming up this Wednesday evening. With the long weekend and hence the opportunity to do so reading, I thought I'd share the full document.

The DelCarte property discussion will be on the Finance Committee agenda for their vote Tuesday evening.

Franklin is getting to cleaning up the tax/title property is has. Per discussion with Jeff Nutting, this should be an annual exercise but this first batch gets the 'backlog' handled.

Some clean up of unused borrowing authorizations is on the agenda.

Franklin is looking to become a "Green Community" and proposing a committee of five town employees in order to apply for some grant money that will assist in generating further energy savings.

The public hearing for the downtown utilities is proposed for the Sep 29 Town Council meeting.


Town Council 20100908 Agenda document



Franklin, MA

In the News - check your mail carefully

In October, Dacey sent letters to 800 delinquent bill payers, warning a lien may be filed on their property. He said the lien will be split evenly in the February and May bills, the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

He said people may wrongly assume the mortgage company and banks have paid their utility bills.

"I have a feeling a lot of people are getting these letters and think, 'I don't have to worry about this, the mortgage company is taking care of it.' It's wrong to assume that," he said.

Read more about this in the Milford Daily News here:

Franklin official: Pay your taxes or risk lien

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Ashley Studley/Daily News staff

Tax & Title Discussion (audio)

In the continuation of the Town Council meeting (after the Forensic Report and discussion), Administrator Jeff Nutting lead a discussion on Tax Title properties and what the town will do with them.

Time: 4 minutes, 13 seconds

Feeley, Pfeffer, Whalen



MP3 File