$8.41 in taxes man that's gonna leave a mark

This is pretty fricked up

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that he was shocked it could happen in the United States.

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Honest Bob would've recommended prison time as well.

is this something that can be appealed federally?

this seems like an egregious overreach and a due process violation

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This is pretty fricked up

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Agreed! And not just amount, but the speed in which they did it:

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The case centers around Oakland County in Michigan, which foreclosed on Rafaeli's property in 2014 after he accidentally underpaid his property taxes by $8.41 in 2013.

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It takes longer than a year to fire a civil servant. How can they take a man's house that quick???

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a man whose house was taken from him because he underpaid his taxes by $8.41

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The "house" in question was owned by the man's business and it was not his personal residence... Also, the $8.41 underpayment was the interest on the tax that was not paid in 2011...

Watchdog.org


Not saying I agree with it but there is definitely more to the story...

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is this something that can be appealed federally?

this seems like an egregious overreach and a due process violation

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There's something hinky about this story.
There is always a notice for underpayments and a time given to pay, or interest starts to compound.
There has to be some unmentioned information. If someone makes a math error and underpays, it's "Got Ya, chump!! move your crap out of the house! It's ours!!"??

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Not saying I agree with it but there is definitely more to the story...

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I am sure there is.

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I am sure there is.

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Ok, so why all up in arms about it? I imagine any state that requires the payment of property taxes has a procedure for foreclosure...

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Rafaeli bought the property for $60,000 in 2011 and underpaid his taxes by $496 that year. He finally learned he had made a mistake two years later and tried to pay it off, but didn’t account for the interest that had accrued in the two years. Because of that calculation error, he lost his property.

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That makes no sense. In a person under pays taxes a bill for that amount is sent. If that is not responded to, the next bill shows that amount plus interest.

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That makes no sense.

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Yeah not sure how fricked up Michigan is on this subject, we are missing some key data.

Shortly after Rafaeli lost his home, he sued in federal court but was told he had to go to state court instead. The federal trial judge noted in passing, however, that Rafaeli suffered “a manifest injustice that should find redress under the law.” In another similar case involving the seizure of a church property, a federal appellate court called Michigan’s behavior a “gross injustice” likened to “theft.” In yet another federal case, also dismissed, the judge declared Michigan’s abusive tax regime an “unconscionable” system while lamenting that no relief is available in federal court.

Taking the advice of the federal courts, Rafaeli sought relief in state court. He has fared no better up to now. In an appeal from his loss in state trial court, the panel of appellate judges determined that they could not return to him the excess funds collected by county because Rafaeli “acted contrary to the welfare of the state by failing to pay [his] taxes.” That result moved one of the appellate judges to write a separate opinion, agreeing that the decision was correct as a matter of precedent but calling it a “gross injustice.”

Only Michigan’s high court now has the power to declare this “gross injustice” unconstitutional. It must do so, putting an end to an “unconscionable” system. LINK