Judge Calls Off Tax Foreclosure Sale, Gives Homeowner Extension To Cough Up Cash After Finding Temporary Legal Incapacitation Prevented Payment

In Berrien County, Illinois, WSJM Radio 94.9 FM reports:

• The owner of a lakefront home in Saint Joseph that was almost auctioned off by the Berrien County Treasurer's office won a break in court last week. According to the Herald Palladium, the Lakeshore Drive home of Tony Basso, of Chicago, will not be offered as part of a tax foreclosure auction on September 21st, after all. The treasurer's office had previously said that property taxes on the home were not paid for about three years and that Basso had all but abandoned the place.

• However, Berrien County Trial Court Judge John Dewane decided last week that Basso was legally incapacitated and unable to attend to his affairs during that period. As such, he was entitled to some relief.

• Basso, who is 82, told the court that he went to Italy about five years ago to help with family problems, leaving money with his son in Chicago to take care of the home in Saint Joseph, which is worth about 500-thousand dollars. The son failed to do so, but Basso couldn't manage the issue due to health problems. He now has until October first to pay the back taxes, and pay back the city of Saint Joseph for lawn mowing it's done for him at the property.

Source: Foreclosed Homeowner Gets A Break In Court.