Michigan county treasurer rebuked for
seizing retiree's home over $8 tax debt
Fox News,
by
Andrew O´Reilly
Original Article
Posted By: Harlowe,
7/27/2020 4:52:08 PM
Officials in one Michigan county are demanding answers from their treasurer amid concerns that the county could be on the hook for millions of dollars in payments to former homeowners whose properties were seized under a tough forfeiture practice. Oakland County commissioners sent an angry letter last week to Treasurer Andrew Meisner after the Michigan Supreme Court rebuked the county’s decision to seize one homeowner’s house after he underpaid his taxes by $8.41.(Snip) The Michigan Supreme Court’s rebuke centers on the case of Uri Rafaeli, a retiree in his 80s whose 1,500-square-foot house
Reply 1 - Posted by:
FleetUSA 7/27/2020 4:54:21 PM (No. 492280)
Thanks for posting. Who said bureaucrats were ever reasonable/sensible?
12 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Trump'sCousin 7/27/2020 4:55:11 PM (No. 492281)
Betcha it's a Nazi!!!!
8 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
tsquare 7/27/2020 4:57:29 PM (No. 492283)
Seems like an open and shut case of violation of the eighth amendment. Tragic. Hope the treasurer pays, dearly and personally
16 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
earlybird 7/27/2020 5:05:12 PM (No. 492293)
The state should buy the house back, give it back to him, and compensate the person(s) who bought it out of a bad foreclosure.
13 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
HotRod 7/27/2020 5:16:20 PM (No. 492308)
Democrats are so evil! If I was that treasurer, I would have paid the old man's $8.41 myself! Never, ever, at any time vote for a democrat!
23 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 7/27/2020 5:18:00 PM (No. 492309)
Seizing an entire house over $8.41?
That's outrageous! No one's home should be confiscated - - unless they owe at least $11.00!
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Vesicant 7/27/2020 5:18:36 PM (No. 492310)
According to the version I read, everything the treasurer did is perfectly legal and the county doesn't care that he did it, just that he got caught doing it, and now they're worried about being sued. So there's your true bureaucrats.
25 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Knotwyrkin 7/27/2020 5:21:53 PM (No. 492316)
I think this was wrong. However, the Michigan Legislature and Governor passed the law saying this must be done when taxes are owed, and the treasurer has no choice. Don't pass stupid laws - but that is impossible for politicians.
11 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 7/27/2020 5:40:37 PM (No. 492329)
He probably has a relative that’s a realtor that cashes in on these deals.
12 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
curious1 7/27/2020 5:50:02 PM (No. 492336)
Proving once again that the communists were successful in eradicating the concept of private property in the US. You don't actually own your house even if you pay off the mortgage or paid cash for it. You just rent it from the local government and if you don't pay the tax (rent) you lose it. Pretty sad there are so many sheeple who let this creep in over the last century plus.
15 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
mc squared 7/27/2020 6:16:56 PM (No. 492357)
I'm with poster 5. I'd pay it myself. Somebody slipped the commissioners a goodly sum to seize this man's house over $8. Oh, it's Michigan.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
MDConservative 7/27/2020 6:19:03 PM (No. 492359)
Let's recognize the real travesty: The state’s Supreme Court ruled Oakland County had the right to seize Rafaeli’s house to satisfy the paltry tax debt.
8 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
volksford 7/27/2020 6:25:34 PM (No. 492363)
I hope they bankrupt a few of these counties
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Folsomguy 7/27/2020 8:02:06 PM (No. 492427)
This is why California passed Prop 13 back in the 70's. People who had built homes with their own hands and had owned them for decades were having them reposed for unpaid taxes that didn't even exist when the home was built. Now Newsunce wants to overturn it.
3 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
EJKrausJr 7/28/2020 1:48:10 AM (No. 492558)
In a Socialist Amerika there is only one landlord, the state. Property includes human beings, who are also owned by the state. Property is viewed as a resource of the state, to do with the property as the state sees fit. So beware of a Socialist Amerika.
1 person likes this.
How very sad. Not since Claude Pepper and Bill McCullum were in Congress has anyone fought for the elderly.
I made a mistake on the check to the lender a few years back for under $1.00. A clerk told me my payment had to be the exact amount or they could foreclose. My senator assured her she couldn't, Then the HOA management company in Orlando tried to not only put a lien on my house, but told her investor friends to ride by and check out the property. A foreclosure by the lender may take years but in this county, an HOA lien can lead to an immediate sale.
#10 is correct.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 7/28/2020 3:11:04 AM (No. 492583)
A look at Meisner's personal bank account should be interesting.
0 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Highlander 7/28/2020 5:59:10 AM (No. 492624)
I’m sure glad I was able to pay my property tax, both installments for 2020! I know it’s government extortion, but what can I do about it? It’s California! I have been voting right in a leftist state since the last Republican Governor turned off the lights on his way out. Too old to move.
0 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
ROLFNader 7/28/2020 11:49:49 AM (No. 492956)
Ahh yes! The heart of the Obama/Whitmer voting bloc.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
This is an absolutely heart-wrenching incident that would extend to all senior citizens who may be surviving on meager incomes. The county kept the entire $24,500 from the sale of the house instead of returning the surplus proceeds to Mr. Rafaeli. There are 14 other states with similar statutes, with five (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nebraska) that “allow private investors to make money off the sale of foreclosed homes.” According to Wikipedia, the treasurer, Andrew Meisner, is a former Democrat member of the Michigan State House of Representatives and is a candidate for Oakland County Executive in 2020.