Some months ago, I had the pleasure of delivering settlement checks to two families in Greenfield who lost their property due to an unconstitutional theft of their excess home equity. One check was for almost a quarter of a million dollars the city of Greenfield took in in stolen equity.
More recently, I wrote a column about the Peters family in Greenfield who had their title taken in 2012 for less than $230 in back taxes, legal costs, and court expenses. “We could have easily paid off that small debt,” the family told me. “But the town kept us totally in the dark.”
At an Oct. 14 meeting of the City Council’s Economic Development Committee (EDC), the mayor of Greenfield revealed that the city today owns 30 properties that were taken by tax title in Land Court, some of them many years back. The issue of tax title taking, unfortunately, is still unfinished business. We are not taking excess equity any more — but we have a legacy of properties taken years before the statute of limitations protections apply.
One of the properties discussed by the mayor is on River Street. The property was taken by Greenfield’s former tax collector for $1,300 in back taxes. “We had a property compliance meeting about 28 parcels,” the mayor told the EDC. “None of this came from any desire to make any money for the city of Greenfield. These are problems for people in different neighborhoods because of the conditions of the properties. Some of them the city owns. Some are properties that people are squatting in. But they are in terrible disrepair.”
The mayor said the owners of the property on River Street are believed to be deceased. “It’s an eyesore for whoever is the neighbor. Perhaps it’s something which could be back on the tax rolls.”
A second parcel on Cheapside Street “has seen better days,” the mayor said. The property was taken for $3,000 in back taxes. “We have 28 or 30 of these across the city, several of them on Deerfield Street. It really brings the whole neighborhood down. We condemn them and still nothing happens.” The mayor invited the city’s attorney to sit in on a two-hour meeting on these properties. “Each property that we are dealing with has all kinds of issues.” The city has been looking for some heirs for 6 or 7 years, the mayor said.
At Large Councilor Wahab Minhas, who sits on the EDC, told members: “The fact that you can take anyone’s property — I don’t believe in that at all. That’s the person’s property. For a small amount, like $1,300, that’s kind of insane. That person ended up losing $60,000 worth of a parcel. It’s sad that that could happen.” On the Cheapside property, Minhas said: “For $3,000 that person wasn’t able to retain a property worth over $200,000.”
“The attorney’s bill for this month was $20,000, and almost all of it was to do with problem properties,” the mayor explained. “These 30 properties are really making it absolutely miserable for neighborhoods. I have people who actually have a master’s degree in squatting. They’ve never paid an ounce of rent. They’ve been living in a house for 10 years. Just last week we got them out.” The mayor says she’s just “trying to get something so it looks better” for the neighborhood. “As property owners, (the city) should be setting the example. I don’t want to take a house for $3,000. We had a 2-hour meeting with the fire chief, police chief, health inspector, building inspector, assessors, two people from boards, and the attorney — trying to think what we can do. It’s really a total mess. It’s a terrible problem in a very poor city.”
“We were able to bring about the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Committee to tackle issues like this,” Minhas suggested. “I think it’s the obligation of the city to find the heirs and the people this property belongs to.”
EDC Chair Derek Helie concluded the meeting: “We all agree we should get these, properties off our books, because we are not a property management company.”
The city should make a good faith effort to locate the owners/heirs and offer them a repayment plan. If the owners cannot be found, or have no interest in redeeming the property, the excess equity could be put in an Elderly & Disabled Tax Fund endowment fund, earmarked for helping other Greenfield homeowners avoid tax title taking in the first place.
Al Norman’s Pushback column is published in the Recorder every first and third Wednesday of the month.