We’ve seen recent articles, letters to the editor, and a lot of talk on social media about real estate tax collections with respect to delinquent taxes.
I believe homeowners have the right to retain the equity in their homes if they find themselves in a tax ‘taking’ situation by not paying their taxes. I would never want to see anyone lose their home. In the situations cited recently, however, it is not fair to vilify city employees who are responsible to collect taxes, per state law, and make them out to be evil or bad people for doing their job. Greenfield does not want to be in the business of selling homes and they would prefer to not have to go after people to pay their taxes. As noted in a recent news article, it’s not fair that the vast majority of property owners pay their taxes while a few do not. The inconvenient truth is that sometimes the city must take action to get people to respond.
Unlike many other municipalities, Greenfield gives residents who might be struggling a lot more time to pay past due taxes. Throughout this entire time, the collector’s office attempts to work with the property owner on a payment plan to repay the back taxes. The following information comes from the collectors office:
1. Approximately two weeks after the FY 4th quarter due date (May 1), a demand notice is issued for any unpaid taxes for the fiscal year. The taxpayer has 14 days to pay the demand.
2. Four to five months later, a follow-up letter is sent, in an effort to satisfy the prior fiscal year balance due. Note: this is not required; Greenfield does it as a courtesy.
3. Seven months later (!) a second letter is issued, as a final attempt to collect the prior fiscal year balance by a specific date before the property owner’s name appears in the paper. Again, not required by law, but a courtesy.
4. Ten to eleven months later (nearly a full year from the original demand notice), the list of unpaid balances is published in the paper, listing a date of ‘taking’ — this is a state requirement. An important note: the technical term is ‘taking,’ but the city does not ‘take’ the property. Concurrently, the city must file a ‘taking’ (or lien) with the Registry of Deeds on the property. At this point a property is considered to be in ‘tax title.’
5. Another six months after the lien is filed with the Registry of Deeds (a year and a half after the first demand notice was issued), the city files a Petition to Foreclose a property owner’s right to redemption with the Land Court. From this point forward, the process usually takes one to two years before the city receives a judgment.
6. If the property owner fails to make an attempt to pay, the city can be granted a foreclosure from the land court and only then can the property be auctioned.
It’s important to note that even if the property is foreclosed, the owner still has time and the right to pay the taxes and retain the property. Years can go by before anyone loses a property.
With respect to the properties listed in April, only a fraction appear to be primary residences. Many are land or income-producing properties (warehouses, multi-family or secondary properties). In short, contrary to what has appeared in recent articles, 42 families will not lose their home and end up on the street. Last year, 70 properties were listed in the paper, while only 42 were listed this year. To date, 15 of the 42 have been paid — so the process is working. After all this work, the actual number of properties the city is forced to auction is minimal.
We expect to have city services and we expect all town employees to work hard for us. So why would we expect any different from the collectors office? They are open and willing to assist, but they have a responsibility to the city and all its residents to do their job: to collect taxes that support all city services. In truth, they are actually going above and beyond in trying to help property owners retain their properties. Our municipal employees do not deserve the level of name-calling and disrespect for simply doing their job.
David Moscaritolo lives in Greenfield.