ALEC in Stateline: Losing a Home for Unpaid Taxes Often Means Losing Your Equity
At the heart of the matter, it’s the government taking more than it’s owed from citizens it’s supposed to be serving.
Gretchen Baldau, Director of the ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force, was recently featured in Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Losing a Home for Unpaid Taxes Often Means Losing Your Equity, Too
About a dozen states allow homeowners who don’t pay their property taxes to lose not only their houses, but also the years of payments they have made on the property, known as equity, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian group that has filed suit on behalf of many homeowners in this position, including those in Massachusetts.
“At the heart of the matter, it’s the government taking more than it’s owed from citizens it’s supposed to be serving,” said Gretchen Baldau, ALEC’s director of its commerce, insurance and economic development task force. “People owe property taxes, they should pay their property taxes, but this is an issue of fairness.”
“When something like this stands out so starkly — people having their biggest investment ball taken from them for an outstanding tax as little $9 — it’s a powerful rallying call that all groups of all persuasions and beliefs realize is not fair to people,” ALEC’s Baldau said.