Chelsea is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to finish what it started in Rafaeli and confirm her right to just compensation without complicated claims procedures and unreasonably tight deadlines. ...
A court decision's date doesn't dictate the beginning or end of property rights. The Michigan Supreme Court in Rafaeli and the U.S. Supreme Court in Tyler v. Hennepin County both recognized that property interests at stake in government tax foreclosures are deeply rooted and pre-exist state law. Property cannot be taken without just compensation, n ...
Alan DiPietro has been raising alpacas and selling their fleece since 2008 in Bolton, Massachusetts, a small, pleasant town in the state's Nashoba Valley Region. By 2014, Alan's alpacas needed more land, so he bought 34 acres that spanned Bolton and the adjacent Town of Stow. The property was undeveloped, so the 50-year-old former engineer mowed s ...
The outside world came to a screeching halt for Kevin Fair in 2013. His wife, Terry, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Kevin had to quit his job so he could care for her at their Scottsbluff, Nebraska, home where they'd lived for nearly two decades—the home was a wedding gift from Kevin's mother. ...
Life has not been easy for Deborah Foss in recent years. The 66-year-old grandmother lives in Massachusetts on a small, fixed income from Social Security. She suffers from several medical conditions, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, COPD, and neuropathy. Despite these struggles, Deborah cared for her ailing mother for the last 10 years of he ...
When Tawanda and Prentiss Hall fell behind on their property taxes, they did what many financially strapped homeowners do: set up a payment plan with the local government. They didn't want to lose the Southfield, Michigan home where they lived with their children. The Oakland County treasurer ended the plan, however, with the tax debt standing a ...
In 2014, Lynette Johnson bought commercial property in East Orange, New Jersey, for her son and daughter to run their businesses. Unfortunately, Lynette never received notice of her tax assessments, the eventual tax lien, and foreclosure. By the time her tax lien was foreclosed in 2018, she owed close to $20,000. The city sold the property to a pri ...
On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court announced a unanimous decision in favor of Geraldine, ruling that home equity theft violates the Takings Clase of the Fifth Amendment. The Court explained that property rights are fundamental and cannot be erased by a state statute that redefines them out of existence. "The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is ...
Mark and Neil Mucciaccio treasure their deep family roots in Easton, Massachusetts. In fact, the brothers still live in their childhood home with Mark's wife, stepdaughter, and two grandchildren. A streak of financial hardship and family medical troubles that began in 2013 left them struggling to keep up with their property tax bills. In 2016, the ...