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Left with Nothing

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Left with Nothing

#11

Post by brianmcconnell »

Queue up the Ayn Rand acolytes in 3...2...1

It's not a coincidence that this is happening to mostly elderly people who otherwise own their properties in the clear, people who are often burdened with serious health problems.

There is a simple fix. Require the liens to be paid off when there is a change of ownership. The city knows what it is owed, and that it will get the money eventually. If the city needs the money today, it ought to be able to borrow the funds (not all that different that accounts receivable factoring). Throwing people out of their homes over small amounts is inhumane.

Re: Left with Nothing

#12

Post by nobrains »

Islam has the most fair rules against Interest. The Quran says: Chapter 2 - Baqarah - Verse 275: http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/002... (Read the next 10 or so verses)

and

Chapter 3 - Verse 130: http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/003...

"O you who believe! Devour not usury (interest), doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah (God); that you may (really) prosper."

Some more quotes: http://www.answering-christianity.com/yahya_ahmed/riba.htm

Allah (God) has declared war on those who take interest: http://www.hilalplaza.com/islam/Interest.html

Re: Left with Nothing

#13

Post by Refefer »

snitko wrote: post #6

And yet I still see people saying "no, how dare you compare government to a bunch of thieves?".

The DC local government is somewhat remarkable in how corrupt it is. It seems like every other day some major political player gets indicted for corruption of some sort.

Re: Left with Nothing

#14

Post by scotty79 »

chiph wrote: post #5

Obscure program?? It happened all the time in the 1930's. If you couldn't pay your tax bill, your property was auctioned off on the courthouse steps.

Via private company operating for profit?

Re: Left with Nothing

#15

Post by cromwellian »

larrys wrote: post #8

"All because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax bill." [1] What is the scope of the problem here? Ok: "Others weren’t as lucky. Tax lien purchasers have foreclosed on nearly 200 houses since 2005 and are now pressing to take 1,200 more, many owned free and clear by families for generations." Out of home many? "The retired Marine sergeant lost his house " Obligatory "and he was a good guy who fought for his country" ad…

The problem is, privatizing a state function -- collecting property taxes -- into a profitable enterprise. Ok, the guy owed $134, explain how under any reasonable financial theory, how this should be worth $5000 or $197,000. Why not a lien against his military pension? Why not negotiate a payment plan? Even the IRS has the courtesy to do that.

Let's take the best possible return, say 20% annual return, and let's say he owed this for 10 years, then at best, he'd owe $848. I don't see how a firm purchasing a $134 debt from the state can justify such a huge penalty/return.

Re: Left with Nothing

#17

Post by citricsquid »

larrys wrote: post #8

"All because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax bill." [1] What is the scope of the problem here? Ok: "Others weren’t as lucky. Tax lien purchasers have foreclosed on nearly 200 houses since 2005 and are now pressing to take 1,200 more, many owned free and clear by families for generations." Out of home many? "The retired Marine sergeant lost his house " Obligatory "and he was a good guy who fought for his country" ad…

The article talks about the real problem: fundamentally you're right, these people should have paid their bills, the problem is they're not given an opportunity to properly make up for their mistakes and the "punishment" does not fit the "crime". After the bill isn't paid the lien is sold to investors who increase the owed amount by an order of magnitude (so that the person really can't pay it now) and drag them through court, to the point where they have no choice but to lose their home. The system sort of worked (as the article noted) when foreclosures were done through the tax office, however now the investors can do it (which is where the fees come from). The core idea is sort-of okay, the problem is how corrupt it has become and how much abuse there is. Vulnerable people (as the article notes) are not given a chance to fix the problem, they're buried in further debt that they have no way to escape from.

Re: Left with Nothing

#18

Post by mpalme »

Meta note: this is what journalism can look like today. Made for the web first, not for the paper. Visualizations that are actually insightful - and most importantly a well researched story.

Re: Left with Nothing

#19

Post by aheilbut »

larrys wrote: post #8

"All because he didn’t pay a $134 property tax bill." [1] What is the scope of the problem here? Ok: "Others weren’t as lucky. Tax lien purchasers have foreclosed on nearly 200 houses since 2005 and are now pressing to take 1,200 more, many owned free and clear by families for generations." Out of home many? "The retired Marine sergeant lost his house " Obligatory "and he was a good guy who fought for his country" ad…

As they mention, there have been simple reforms in other jurisdictions to prevent this sort of predatory behavior (not selling liens at all, especially if the owners are seniors or disabled, and putting limits on legal fees).

It sounds like it's basically an oversight, but nobody in government has bothered to fix it because the people affected are predominantly poor and black.

Re: Left with Nothing

#20

Post by Houshalter »

nobrains wrote: post #12

Islam has the most fair rules against Interest. The Quran says: Chapter 2 - Baqarah - Verse 275: http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/002... (Read the next 10 or so verses) and Chapter 3 - Verse 130: http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/003... "O you who believe! Devour not usury (interest), doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah (God); that you may (really) prosper." Some more…

This has nothing to do with anything in the article. Besides what you are saying is ridiculous anyways. A society where people are forbidden from getting loans or investing? You can't even charge interest on risk?
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