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A HOMEOWNER who never missed a tax payment had her property sold behind her back due to a paperwork mix-up.
Robin McElroy was nearly brought to tears after opening a terrifying letter that said she owed the new owner years of rent.
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The resident bought her Chicago, Illinois, home in 2012 and has proof she hasn’t missed a property tax payment.
However, still started to get threatening letters from the Cook County treasurer’s office threatening the sale of her property.
In April 2019, Cook County officials investigated the debts, and found her PIN on the assessor’s website had been swapped with her neighbor.
The treasurer’s office said there was no reason why McElroy’s home should be sold and left her feeling like the problem had been solved.
However, five years later, she got yet another letter saying her home had been sold without notice and that she owed the new owner years of rent.
“I pay my bills,” she told CBS News.
“I do not like wasting money. I do not pay that ‘stupid tax.'”
Again, the county said her issue was “delinquent taxes,” but McElroy said the officials had duped the new owner into allowing the sale.
“This lady should not have to be put in this position to go through all of this headache and heartache,” she said.
It turns out that Cook County was right about the PIN issue in 2019.
The only problem is no one actually went into the system to fix it, CBS News reported.
County officials said they’ve fixed the issue and that McElroy can maintain ownership of her house.
However, the resident is staying vigilant in the wake of the years of back and forth.
“This is somebody’s property that they paid for, that they’re living in,” she said.
She’s hired a lawyer for advice on how to move forward.
“You guys can point fingers all day long. I don’t care,” she said.
“I want what’s rightfully owned to me.”
Homeowners will always have an opportunity to reclaim their homes from a tax sale if they pay off their bills.
The drama comes after one buyer’s home was sold out from under him, and he made none of the profits.
And a mom’s home was sold for only $12,000 thanks to a bill that wasn’t hers.
How can your home be sold without your consent?
Your home can be sold from under you for various reasons – here are three key things to look out for:
Tax Sale
- A tax sale is the sale of property by a governmental entity to recover unpaid taxes by the owner who has reached a certain point of delinquency in their owed payments.
- Before a tax sale takes place, there is a right-of-redemption period where the owner can pay off their debt and reclaim their home.
- Each state has different laws surrounding tax sales but in most areas, the basic requirement is that adequate notice is given to the owner to pay the outstanding money, and any sale must be open to the public.
Foreclosure
- Foreclosures can take place when lenders take control of a property after borrowers have failed to make their repayments.
- Borrowers will receive a Notice of Default, triggering the foreclosure process.
- Homeowners in HOA communities can also see their homes foreclosed by their HOA for falling behind on fees.
- This means that even if you keep up with mortgage repayments, you could still lose your home if your HOA has a lien on your property.
- When such a foreclosure takes place, the sale price only needs to be enough to cover the HOA debt meaning that properties can be sold for much less than they are worth.
Property Fraud
- Criminals can use a fake or stolen ID to impersonate a homeowner in order to sell or mortgage homes.
- Typical targets for property fraud include absent owners like landlords, owners who live abroad, and sole owners of unmortgaged homes.
- The U.S. Sun previously reported on a man whose vacation home worth $300,000 was sold by criminals for just $9,000 – they even had the deed to the property.
