Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Elderly Texas Homeowner Says Computer Glitch Keeps Her From Getting Real Estate Tax Deferral Under State's Homestead Laws, Leaving Her At Risk Of Foreclosure Over Unpaid Tax Assessments
In San Antonio, Texas, KSAT-TV Channel 12 reports:
A San Antonio woman says she is caught in a massive knot of government red tape, and it could cost her home.
Margarita Balcazar, 67, is suing the Bexar County Appraisal District and had her first court appearance [last week].
Balcazar’s lawyer argued a battle of technicalities keeps the widow from a tax deferral, which is needed to prevent foreclosure on her property.
Balcazar lives in a home in the 1000 block of Clark Avenue and does not have a birth certificate because she says she was born to a midwife in Laredo. Because of this, she says she can't get a state identification card.
To receive a tax deferral, the appraisal district said Balcazar must show the house is her main home and that she is over the age of 65. She has federal identification to prove it.
However, the electronic county forms require a state-issued form of identification.
"The computer system does not allow them to check the box for the tax deferral, unless the boxes for the homestead and the over 65 are checked, and those can not be checked," said Balcazar’s attorney Carla Sanchez-Adams. “So part of it, it seemed like it was more of a glitch in the computer system.”
The attorney representing the appraisal district said Balcazar has a pending appeal that may get her what she wants anyway and the suit is unnecessary at this point.
A KSAT news crew visited Balcazar’s home, but she was not there at the time.
A group of men who claim to be her sons told KSAT Balcazar lives in a second house on the same lot. The men said she owns both homes, which were left to her after her husband passed away.
Sanchez-Adams said the results of the appeal should come down in the next couple of months.
"At the end of the day, I think we all agree she should stay in her home," said Sanchez-Adams.
CBC News: Betrayal of Trust (A CBC investigation reveals how lawyers across Canada have misappropriated and mishandled clients money, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, or sometimes even charging vulnerable people top dollar for shoddy services)
Land Contract/Contract For Deed/Rent-To-Own Rackets
The New York Times: The Housing Trap (In the wake of the housing crisis, low-income families have turned to seller financing to buy homes but these deals can be a money trap)
Beware The Fine Print: Consumers Forced To Sign Away Their Rights To Use Court System
The NY Times: Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice(Part 1 in series examining how clauses buried in tens of millions of contracts have deprived Americans of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: their day in court)
Foreclosure Mills' Abysmal Record In Complying With New NYS Foreclosure Requirements
Justice Deceived: How Large Foreclosure Firms Subvert State Regulations Protecting Homeowners
MFY Legal Services Report On Questionable Practices By Process Servers In Debt Collection Cases
Justice Disserved: A Preliminary Analysis of the Exceptionally
Low Appearance Rate by Defendants in Lawsuits Filed in the Civil Court of the City of New York
Mortgage Mess Redux: Robo-Signers Return (A Reuters investigation finds that many banks are still employing the controversial foreclosure practices that sparked a major outcry last year)
CNN Video: As Foreclosures Mount, Florida Court Turns To 'Rocket Docket'
The Wall Street Journal: A Florida Court's 'Rocket Docket' Blasts Through Foreclosure Cases (2 Questions, 15 Seconds, 45 Days to Get Out; 'What's to Talk About?' Says a Judge)
"Produce The Note" Strategy When Dealing With Missing Promissory Notes In Foreclosure Actions
ABC Video: Fighting Against Foreclosure (Some homeowners have found a new tactic to keep the banks at bay)
<< Home