It’s getting worse..it must Christmas

Johnny, I see student loans like viruses that mutate.  They were targeted in the 90's to destroy the lower echelon and the unsuspecting.  They have mutated to allow lawyers and collection agents to make a living.  The borrower, as it has been experienced by me, was never to benefit from the education.  And the invasion of privacy experienced served to undermine the borrower on the playing field.  As well as you do your job Johnny, do you not think this virus is a little too big for you?  After all, you are only up against the status quo--the makers of the virus.  And of course the question is, are you not benefiting from the virus?  If the bank says, we will buy out whoever can put a lien on the house, then why not the student loans?  This virus inflicts a long and painful suffering on the victim.   

Well thanks John.

It is an old story I suppose.  But I do feel that I need to do something to stop it--my way though.

Regards,

Kim

Kim, municipalities have powers that ordinary collection agents don't. As I originally advised, the bank has no choice but to pay the outstanding taxes since the municipality could actually sell your home. A government lien takes priority over the bank's. This is quite common and the financial institution will usually increase your monthly payment by 1/12 of whatever they paid. Unfortunantly, when these things happen it can turn into a bit of a downward spiral with the bank eventually refusing to renew the mortgage or calling it. If a person is having difficulty paying the tax bill they will certainly have difficulty paying the increased mortgage payment for a year.

There are solutions of course to resolve the problem but they will involve some serious action. I don't think your present situation can be solved in a sentence.

Ferren, not alerting the bank back in January was why I was so relieved to work out a payment schedule with the municipality.  What I am upset about now is the municipality going behind my back after I upheld my side of the deal.  It is a turn-of-events that is not good; very bad faith.  I need to know where the bad faith stems from. The tax collector, Dean Anderson, has not returned the phone call to speak on the additional charges or his actions.  I suspect the lawyer who handled the property transaction 17 years ago, Darcy Bell, would have known what was going on.  He did not try to alert me either (this same lawyer is on the college board and has since told me that to handle the situation with the college would be a conflict of interest, also at the time of the incident, his secretary told me he was unavailble).

The problem is this, it is my home whether I get to live there on a regular basis or not and whether I care for the politics in the town.  I don't know how you can help, but I do know that if I keep on paying the bills, no one has legal recourse except for maybe, the student loans--let's just say if I keep on doing it the old fashioned way there is no reason to believe I couldn't keep my house.

What is occupying my mind now, is whether I can get more out of my house i.e. in terms of using it to start a business (working at $12/hour is ridiculous and the work has been demeaning).  Are you able to offer this kind of advice?  And are you able to set-up other life-affirming legal papers like wills?

Poly, thanks for the advice, it is nice to know that there is someone to turn to like Johnny.

Kim

I will fight the town if I wish--and I do wish.  Nothing would give me more pleasure than to rub sh** in (some) of their faces.  Failing this, I will live a peaceful existence in my own world.

"If you cannot make the payments....."

seems like you are saying this with a sense of pleasure; if this is not so it would be absurd of you to believe I don't realize this or need to have it reiterated.

 

 

 

 

Here is an update.

I just got word of the assessment on my house for 2005.  Although it is 85 years old and in sad need of upgrading, they sought to increase the value by approx 12.5% (this is Sarnia, not Toronto real estate, so it is a large increase).  Other houses in the area increased on average by only 6.5%.

This is what I am talking about--it looks like I am headed into deeper doo-doo.  The way I see it is, when they increase the value of the property the equity looks more than it really is and maybe then they can justify a lien to recover the student loans.  There is no way my house will sell for what they are suggesting.  I am now looking into submitting a RECON and/or ARB to dispute it. When push comes to shove, there are lots of people who are willing to push you under especially when you are sitting on a well-located piece of real estate.  We have e-mailed the mayor on this one.

Kim