OK to sell widow's home over $6 bill, judge rules

[Shurkuris]

Seen these horror stories pop up every now and then. It's not like you can do anything about it anyways, because you know you don't technically own your house. It belongs to your local government.

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/2537015...ll-judge-rules

"BEAVER, Pa. (AP) - A widow was given ample notice before her $280,000 house was sold at a tax auction three years ago over $6.30 in unpaid interest, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled.

The decision last week turned down Eileen Battisti's request to reverse the September 2011 sale of her home outside Aliquippa in western Pennsylvania.

"I paid everything, and didn't know about the $6.30," Battisti said. "For the house to be sold just because of $6.30 is crazy."

Battisti, who still lives in the house, said Monday that she plans to appeal to Commonwealth Court. That court earlier ordered an evidentiary hearing, which led to last week's ruling.

Beaver County Common Pleas Judge Gus Kwidis wrote that the county tax claim bureau complied with notification requirements in state law before the auction. She had previously owed other taxes, but at the time of the sale she owed just $235, including other interest and fees.

"There is no doubt that (she) had actual receipt of the notification of the tax upset sale on July 7, 2011, and Aug. 16, 2011," the judge wrote. "Moreover, on Aug. 12, 2011, a notice of sale was sent by first class mail and was not returned."

The property sold for about $116,000, and most of that money will be paid to Battisti if further appeals are unsuccessful. An attorney for the purchaser did not return a phone message on Monday.

Joe Askar, Beaver County's chief solicitor, said the judge got the decision right, based on the law.

"The county never wants to see anybody lose their home, but at the same time the tax sale law, the tax real estate law, doesn't give a whole lot of room for error, either," Askar said.

Battisti said her husband handled the paperwork for the property's taxes before he passed away in 2004.

"It's bad - she had some hard times, I guess her husband kind of took care of a lot of that stuff," Askar said. "It seemed that she was having a hard time coping with the loss of her husband - that just made it set in a little more."

[Aeluron Lightsong]

I detect a subtle anti government sentiment.

[Shurkuris]

I detect a subtle anti government sentiment.

Nope you have it wrong, I agree with what they did to her. You can't let your citizens get away with $6.30 in un-paid interest. Got to make examples out of all of them or they will all start committing crimes.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Nope you have it wrong, I agree with what they did to her. You can't let your citizens get away with $6.30 in un-paid interest. Got to make examples out of all of them or they will all start committing crimes.

The article makes me think that she sold over 6.30 in say too much. Probably error on my end but that's how I interpeted it at glance.

[Wells]

She should bitch about states' rights and threaten the government.

Get a militia to show up when they come to take possession of the house.

[Durandro]

Pathetic bullying. Claiming your 'hands are tied' when you made the ruling is bullshit. The case probably cost them far more, so its just an example of how badly run that legal system is.

Send in the auditors, scare them shitless.

[Deleted]

Her mistake is not having a makeshift mob of law-abiding gun totting citizens using their wives as human shields against the tax collectors.

[v2prwsmb45yhuq3wj23vpjk]

So she owed $235 but otherwise the house was hers and they get to sell it for over 100k and she gets nothing of that?

Am I missing something here?

[Endus]

So she owed $235 but otherwise the house was hers and they get to sell it for over 100k and she gets nothing of that?

Am I missing something here?

No, she'll get the balance once the government takes the money she owes them.

Basically, this is a case of her refusing to pay taxes, for years.

Here's how it went down; she paid the local school district taxes back in 2008, but filed them 6 days late, meaning a $6.30 interest charge was applied. This has built up since then to almost $235, due to recurring interest on that balance. But that's just the school tax. She hasn't been paying anything else.

You can run a search for her last name here, Battisti; http://www.beavercountypa.gov/tax-claim-search

It's the top file. It shows that she's owes more than $20,000 in back taxes. She apparently just stopped paying her local taxes in 2009, completely.

This isn't about $6.

[Deleted]

The title and the entire story is so cherry picked and far from the truth. Endus pretty much told what was needed, specially in the last 2 sentences.

[Locruid]

Get a militia to show up when they come to take possession of the house.

And if said Tax Collectors setup a "Constitutional Area" and treat protesters as Extreme Muslims then I'll be part of the militia.

If she couldn't pay $6 and some odd cents in THREE years, that's her problem. You know damn well she got notices cause when the government contacts me they do it several ways in less than 6 months..

[ComputerNerd]

Paying off a a loan we were asked in the last letter to pay a remainder of £0.15.
We had paid off the proper amount previously, that just being a petty tantrum thrown over us complaining about taking direct debits early.
It likely cost more to send the letter out to us.
We paid it anyway just to rid of them.

[brimdog]

A gross oversight of the spirit of the law.