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A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Reason.com ()
Date: November 15, 2019 08:00PM

Property Rights
A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
A state law allows counties to effectively steal homes over unpaid taxes and keep the excess revenue for their own budgets.

Eric Boehm | 11.6.2019 7:40 AM
zumaglobalthree242779
(Robin Nelson/ZUMA Press/Newscom)

An 83-year-old retired engineer in Michigan underpaid his property taxes by $8.41. In response, Oakland County seized his property, auctioned it off to settle the debt, and pocketed nearly $24,500 in excess revenue from the sale.

Under Michigan law, it was all legal. And hardly uncommon.

Uri Rafaeli, who lost his property and all the equity associated with it, is just one of thousands of people to be victimized by Michigan's uniquely aggressive property tax statute. The law, passed in 1999 in an attempt to accelerate the rehabilitation of abandoned properties, empowers county treasurers to act as debt collectors. In the process, it creates a perverse incentive by allowing treasurers' offices to retain excess revenue raised by seizing and selling properties with delinquent taxes—even when the amount owed is miniscule, and even when the homes aren't abandoned or blighted at all.

Organizations representing property owners like Rafaeli say the practice is unconstitutional, inequitable, and unreasonably harsh. They call it "home equity theft"—a process that's a close relative to the civil asset forfeiture laws that have been used by police departments to similarly deprive innocent Americans of their property without due process. They are now asking the state Supreme Court to restrict the practice.

"Michigan is currently stealing from people across the state," says Christina Martin, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm now representing Rafaeli and other homeowners in a class-action lawsuit that will go before the Michigan Supreme Court in early November.

"Counties have been authorized to take not just what they are owed, but to take people's life savings."

More:

https://reason.com/2019/11/06/a-michigan-man-underpaid-his-property-taxes-by-8-41-the-county-seized-his-property-sold-it-and-kept-the-profits/

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: And..... ()
Date: November 16, 2019 12:04AM

.....people on the left wish to give more power to rotten, evil bureaucrats.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Asker of questions ()
Date: November 16, 2019 12:22AM

Doesn't Michigan law require the gov't to notify the property owner that he owes taxes and if he doesn't pay them, his property will be seized?

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Leftist.Gorilla ()
Date: November 16, 2019 02:11AM

Dumb muffakah shouldn't have underpaid his taxes...

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Taxes scofflaws ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:09AM

Wahhhhh
Wahhhhh

Crybaby.
Like this dumb fuck didn’t receive yellow then, Red envelopes in the mail from tax admin.
I sold a van and didn’t report it to the dmv, and was hounded by tax bills in the mail for something like $38!
Surrre!

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: i wood shoot them ()
Date: November 16, 2019 03:18PM

i wood shoot them

there are allot of county people who should be shot as the ARMED bank robbers that they are. they use the POLICE to protect themselves (HEAVILY ARMED BANK ROBERS)

that is why the penalty MUST be stiff for cheaters: because betrayal of office is so much worse than a simple bank burglary or robbery

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: i wood shoot them ()
Date: November 16, 2019 03:18PM

i don't think death penalty is out of the question

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: fucking foreigners ()
Date: November 16, 2019 03:21PM

however: Uri Rafaeli? is he even supposed to be in the country?

ICE should deport him ?

just because he's 80 doesn't mean he didn't slip into michigan "un-announced" to collect welfare

i guarantee you 50 years ago seeing anyone not white or indian in michigan was QUITE RARE (demcorats will tell you michigan is diverse: it's NOT TRUE - michigan became a gang and illegal alien dumping ground since clinton because michigan politicians have an extremely weak spine when it comes to getting anything done)

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Give the man a cigar ()
Date: November 16, 2019 04:40PM

And..... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> .....people on the left wish to give more power to
> rotten, evil bureaucrats.


^^ this

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 098sdfj ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:35PM

it is more likely a FAKE NEWS STORY

there is not enough information in the story to determine what the city really did

for example: if the man was alone, 80, unable to care for the home and was being put in a nursing home by a judge's advice his situation was un-tennable - that would be an outside probability

but there are any number of complications in extremum:

he may have family who have rights to the property in failure (to "take charge of the property" via family law - which by the way Bill Clinton damaged "superfically" allowing cities to attack the elderly ILLEGALLY (only legally on the surface, but the older still valid laws still make it HIGHLY ILLEGAL))

he may have other property that could be sized for $8 (EVEN OP GUESSED THAT WOULD BE TRUE - HE MIGHT HAVE $8 DRESS SOCKS FROM WALMART IN THE CLOSET!!!)

THE BANK MIGHT OWN THE PROPERTY, not the man: the article doesn't say who owns the property or if the roof is leaking

the lawyer for the 80 yr old man might be more corrupt than the city officials who may also be corrupt or working with the corrupt lawyer

THE MEDIA MIGHT BE TOTALLY LYING ABOUT THE WHOLE CASE, trying to create a job for an illegal alien to "be published" as part of a college communications 102 class

OR IT MIGHT BE DEAD STRAIGHT ON - that the city is taking the first path to seizure illegally

OP IS AN IDIOT FOR TAKING ON THIS STORY WITH ONLY A PETTY FAKE NEWS REPORT ON IT

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: rf4gt4r34 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:42PM

this is not on the tier of giving a michigan ex lover 100 yr in prison for killing his wife when in DC an asian woman who killed her nigga husband got 3 yrs with 3 yrs already served by th etime the trial ended

not even close

bffefd7b-3086-47dd-a85e-f962df54be1b-Raf

uri as google has it

also the "lawyer" mentioned above hails from FLORIDA not michigan - and thus would be unlikely to be rigistered to operate in both states (florida has (had) a uniq legal code which has been wordpad edited to be very similar to federal and other states except it is still more conservative and with less "hacks", in the sunshine state).

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: e3rft4g3r4 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:46PM

"Michigan is currently stealing from people across the state," says Christina Martin

a "real lawyer" on a case would never say such a thing: there is no such thing as "michigan in general is stealing" in law. if the michigan code stole (but code does not steal it is inanimate and incappable of it) you could say "michigan steals"

A REAL LAWYER WOULD LIST NAMES COLLECTED SO FAR INVOLVED IN THEFT AND STATE IF THE LIST WAS LIMITED FOR BREVITY: only names of confirmed accused individuals

the above article (as seen on ffu) does not mention one name of any county personell involved, so as a a legal accusation is it complete bullshit

(now me on the other hand, when i make accusations about fairfax i do so with the vantage of having sued and having fairfax (fa, feds) skip court on me and refuse also to pay: which is the case where i can make accusations in retrospect)

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: e3rft4gt3r2e43 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:48PM

Treasurer Meisner

Throughout his career, Andy Meisner has served the families of Oakland County at the federal, state, and local levels, presently as Oakland County Treasurer, a position he has held since 2009. As Treasurer, Andy focuses on preserving property values, preventing mortgage and tax foreclosures, and prudent stewardship and investment of Oakland County taxpayer dollars.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 3efr3243 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:55PM

the Oakland County (pontiac?) treasury dept is inside the government center (larger and nicer than fairfax va's taj mahal)

i have little doubt they've hired some f'ing hindu or nigger who isn't supposed to be in the country to file fake tax papers and threaten the public for not paying sums that aren't actually due

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 3efr3243 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 06:59PM

(the employees responsible for public interaction are not listed )

A little more than a year later, in February 2014, Rafaeli's rental property was one of 11,000 properties put up for auction by Oakland County. It was sold for $24,500 in August of the same year—far less than what Rafaeli had paid for the property just three years earlier.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 09ewfjf ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:00PM

https://www.oakgov.com/treasurer/about/Pages/staff.aspx

THE SUPERVISOR IS SOME YOUNG FOOL - TOO YOUNG TO BELIEVED TO BE IN CHARGE

I SMELL CORRUPTION THROUGH AND THROUGH

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: er4f3gr3e ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:07PM

$24,000 for $60,000 is NOT A GOOD DEAL (it can easily be considered a FELONY if the property nearby had not much changed in value, which we think no although this was not said specifically). THE ADDRESS OF THE PROPERTY WAS NOT STATED so it's impossible to check RE-MAX for the price from here.

the man is reportedly still in condition to do "light reasoning" (83 yrs old thogh). HE NO LONGER LIVES IN MICHIGAN - ALTHOUGHH why and whereto is not said - which is critical information

however it is clear that it is likely not the case that michigan sold the home in response they needed the property to cover for putting him in a home: we can say this is not the case. however there are 100 more things which could be that FAKE NEWS would not have told us

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: what school was that ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:08PM

Christina Martin of Florida? I think I went to school with her in VA, but cannot say for sure.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: e3rfgg3r4 ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:11PM

In court documents, Rafaeli's attorneys estimate there have been more than 100,000 properties—along with the "entire equity in them"—that have been taken by Michigan counties since 2002

THE ISSUE IS THESE ARE GOING TO ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO, WITHOUT QUALIFICATION, ARE BEING EMPLOYED BY DNC MICHIGAN DEMOCRATS TRYING TO STAY IN OFFICE

100,000 properties is ALLOT of theft. if many of these properties are found to be "in political hands", the death sentence is what i would suggest

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: r4tgth4y4t3r ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:18PM


the meme in the news during corrupt Clinton administration which Bush had to clean up after was:

ROBO SIGNING

it happened on auto repo and for homes

IT WAS MADE ILLEGAL

perhaps they didn't get THE MEMO

it is written in law and underlines that the law had already made it clear that abuse of government was and is still illegal


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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 09sdfj ()
Date: November 16, 2019 07:48PM

hqdefault.jpg

michigan is a state where big corporate "pulled out" and left many poor - also a state ravaged (who had fought) all the wars - full of purple hearts. just 30-50 years ago hunting in the damn cold to feed the family, cutting through ice to fish, was a reality for some families. welfare mean canned beans from the church not luxuring condos for illegal aliens.

THE COUNTY EXECS ARE EXTREMELY LUCKY, SEIZING PROPERTY FROM OLD MICHIGAN MEN, NOT TO HAVE GOTTEN THEIR HEADS BLOWN OFF WITH A SHOT GUN Michigan people are very community sensitive (and thus democrat). perhaps too much so: ie not defending themselves from rape of property because of a sense of that the community wouldn't be harming them - whereas since Clinton: OH YES THEY WOULD BE.

that is the truth, and the truth is slightly untrue: i imagine some county officials have been killed in Michigan

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: pisdf ()
Date: November 23, 2019 11:07PM

little red riding hood

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: rfgtvbr ()
Date: November 23, 2019 11:08PM


Democrats don't want to "take your guns"

THEY WANT YOUR GUNS, YOUR CAR, AND DEFINITELY YOUR HOME**



especially from the elderly, and if young (cousins) are in the home, democrats will of course use police to "rid the house of pests"

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: A Gonzalez ()
Date: November 23, 2019 11:22PM

gerrymanderer2 (OP) posts several lies on ffu daily - many know he's a paid FBI agent who is enslaved to do it for false CIA Imperialist Propaganda. He floods ffu with useless posts to bump down major news, posts fecal matter, mutilated bodies, child porn, foreign drug ads and sneaker ads, tells people to kill themselves and government should seize them and put them on psych pills in prison - decided by democrat gov of course, promotes kangaroo courthouse trials, gives anti-religious rants, gives satanic ritual rants, posts white males with small dicks raping young Native American females, portends white low birth rate and fall of USA, food tampering/poisoning, and anything possible to DEMORALIZE white people on ffu. (perhaps a chinese prisoner or isis member - but definitely knowledgeable of fx co gov from the inside at times). the website operator has told him "not to post or return" which are still posted - not removed, by the sysop: not because of a political leaning but for continual illegal and gross spam along with messages that are only to demoralize if not kill others. he/she plays at financial terrorism as well: continuall reporting false financial data, and fake emergency please from (fake members of the community he makes up).

THIS BARRICKMAN SHIT ONLY WOKE YOU UP AND NOW YOUR IN OVERTIME, HAHA!

NO ONE FUCKING CARES ABOUT MICHIGAN ANYWAYS!

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: idfjf ()
Date: November 24, 2019 06:04PM

.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: idjf ()
Date: November 26, 2019 01:57PM

.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: oisdff ()
Date: November 28, 2019 04:11PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: November 30, 2019 02:49PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: bad government bad people ()
Date: December 01, 2019 10:06AM

It just goes to show you can never trust PEOPLE.

Never.

For you see, it is people who serve in the government.

And at one time, the real estate seizure laws in Michigan were probably well intended, and, served a good purpose in cleaning up entire blocks of abandoned and blighted properties in Detroit...it probably got to the point where it took the authorities forever to raze crack houses, rat traps, dangerous and falling down houses.

So, they passed a law that was meant to accelerate this process.

Good.

Then, some jag-off figures out he can use it in other situations.

Throw in a little profit motive, and now you've got government run amock.

It's kinda like the sex crimes registry...once, it was well intended to make sure pervs would be monitored in society in order to protect potential victims.

Now, it is used by overzealous prosecutors to threaten people who have been charged with pissing in public on a golf course, they threaten them with being a sex criminal unless the plead guilty to some dicked up charge.

Never, ever rely on the government to be fair or use common sense with the tools we give them.

Always...always question the government.

Don't make their jobs easy.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: tax evader ()
Date: December 02, 2019 12:50PM

"It is undisputed that [Rafaeli] failed to fully pay his property-tax obligations," lawyers for the county said in April legal documents. "It is also undisputed that Oakland County provided constitutionally adequate notice of the delinquencies."

The county attorneys said the court case exists only because Rafaeli "chose not to pay his taxes. ... Any harshness that results from losing excess equity is the natural consequence of [Rafaeli]' own actions."

Rafaeli did not live in the Southfield home. He rented it out to tenants and used the rent generated to fund his retirement, Martin said. After the foreclosure, Rafaeli moved to Israel.


slum lord likely... good riddance to the camel jockey. serves him right.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: ijdff ()
Date: December 02, 2019 01:58PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 03, 2019 03:54PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 06, 2019 02:09AM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 07, 2019 02:49PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 07, 2019 09:31PM

I eat dick

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 10, 2019 01:28AM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 13, 2019 05:25PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 16, 2019 03:22PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 18, 2019 03:52PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 24, 2019 02:38PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 25, 2019 08:35AM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 27, 2019 09:51PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: December 31, 2019 08:14PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: January 05, 2020 06:08PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: January 05, 2020 06:40PM

op

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: January 05, 2020 07:11PM

dd

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: January 07, 2020 10:04PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Barrickman ()
Date: January 08, 2020 01:03AM

Despite a drastic fall in the official unemployment rate for the state the same percentage of Michigan households are living below the poverty line today as did after the onset of the Great Recession in December of 2007.

According to new income and poverty statistics from the US Census Bureau released in early December, Michigan’s poverty rate was 16.3 percent at the end of 2016, the same annual rate calculated as an average for the five-years from January 2008 through December 2012. The current rate is not much lower than the peak annual poverty rate of 16.9 percent reported for the five-year period of 2010-14.

Unemployment has been below five percent in the state since the end of 2015, down from a post-recession peak of 14.5 percent in 2009. However, this month Michigan unemployment ticked up slightly, to 4.5 percent.

The proliferation of low-paying temporary and part-time jobs in the auto industry, a process enshrined in the sellout contract imposed by the UAW in 2015, has been a key factor in the general decline in living standards in Michigan. According to data recently reported by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget wages in manufacturing jobs in the state are down by $2.00 an hour, from a high of $22.73 before the crash.


Manufacturing wages in Michigan are down by $2.00 an hour, from a high of $22.73 before the crash
Behind the apparent contradiction between declining unemployment rates and the ongoing high official poverty level is the massive and increasing income and wealth inequality in the US. As Karl Marx established over a century ago, poverty at one pole of society is complemented by obscene levels of wealth at the other. The three top American plutocrats, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, investor Warren Buffett and the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, now own more wealth than the bottom half of the US population, 160 million people.

Like Trump’s glorification of the ever-rising bubble in the stock market, Obama pointed to job growth when characterizing his administration as “the best time to be alive.” Michigan’s Republican Governor Rick Snyder and the Democratic Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan have incessantly boasted of the declining unemployment and job creation as signals of a recovering economy.

Unsurprisingly, the Wall Street Journal recently touted that Michigan had “increased sharply” its “capital investment and hiring.” The paper praised policies that repealed personal-property taxes for manufacturers and right-to-work legislation, policies taken from the Republican playbook and implemented in the state.

The latest Census figures demonstrate that poverty remains a chronic condition in Michigan despite this supposed resurgence in the state’s economy. Even so, the official poverty rate grossly underestimates the depth of economic want.

In the US the official poverty level is not measured as a percentage of median income, as it is in many other developed countries, but on a far narrower measure related to food costs. Poverty for a family of three is pegged at a derisory $20,000 a year, far below sixty percent of Michigan’s current median household income of about $52,400 and drastically below the amount needed to support a family.

Sustained high rates of poverty over nearly a decade have had devastating personal implications. A family’s meagre resources can dwindle as successive years’ income deficits are never offset with rising income. They have had an equally devastating societal impact.

The five-year Census Bureau American Community Series (ACS) rolling averages from the December report supplement annual poverty and income statistics released by the Census’ Current Population Series in September. The greater sample sizes in the five-year averages allow for more accuracy and sufficient data to communities with smaller populations.

There are smaller communities in the state where there are indications poverty has increased dramatically. The large increases in poverty in these small communities indicate how a relatively small economic disruption can have a huge effect on living standards for a village or town.

For example, some villages in the Upper Peninsula with populations in the hundreds saw double digit increases. In Baldwin, which is located toward the middle of the state’s lower peninsula, poverty increased from a third of its one thousand plus residents in poverty in 2008-2012 to well over half now.

The December ACS release shows that in the five-year look-back from the end of 2016, there was an increase in poverty in half of Michigan’s communities of all sizes over the average recorded in the five years that followed the onset of the recession. Communities located throughout the state saw such increases.

Flint and other cities such as Jackson, Lansing, Detroit, Muskegon, Bay City and Ann Arbor showed small increases in their poverty rate. Other cities with comparable population sizes had poverty rates that declined, albeit slightly, including Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Saginaw.

Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, recorded a shockingly high official poverty rate of a 39.4 percent using the five-year ACS average. The city’s poverty rate was one percentage point higher than the 38.1 percent average for the years 2008 through 2012.

Whole cities with substantially sized populations like Detroit and Flint have average poverty rates that are more than twice the state poverty rate. The high rates in some cities reach the level of poverty concentration that is utilized by social scientists to identify neighborhoods endemic to urban areas where pervasive poverty seriously debilitates families and social structure.

Inequality is driving communities to be divided by income like never before in recent history. The growth in concentrated poverty nationwide was noted in a Brookings Institution report last year. According to the report, between 2005-09 and 2010-14 the number of such high poverty neighborhoods in the US, where more than forty percent of households are below the official poverty line, grew by more than 4,300.

By the end of 2016 Detroit, along with Cleveland, had a poverty rate a full ten percentage points higher than the city with the third highest poverty rate in the country, Philadelphia. Detroit Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan’s recent re-election campaign relied on the narrative of an ongoing “Detroit comeback” based on highly concentrated downtown real estate investment.

Detroit’s poverty statistics present a window into the effect of exploding growth in temporary and part-time jobs and parallel wage stagnation and how it has affected workers struggling in the lowest-paying jobs.

Thirty-six percent of Detroit residents now work for less than $15,000 a year. Twenty-five percent of residents do not have access to a car. Industrial jobs have hemorrhaged out of the city over the nine years since the recession. Suburban jobs require serious time and expense to reach as the mass transit system in the area is barely functional.

Two of the cities in Michigan where poverty rates were even higher than Detroit’s are actually enclaves of Detroit and would cause a higher rate and higher increase in the poverty rate for the Detroit inner-city area if their data was included. Hamtramck, a small enclave of Detroit has a poverty rate of 49.7 percent, up from 44.6 percent in the years immediately after the recession started. The other municipal enclave, Highland Park, has a poverty rate of 51.1 percent, up from 46.7 percent in the earlier years.
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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:16PM

.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: k ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:16PM

isn't that a Bernie Sanders kicking ground?

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: iuoikj ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:20PM

The Oakland County Treasurer’s Office declined Fox News’ request for comment, but in a written brief to the court, the county’s lawyers argue that “by failing to pay back taxes and failing to redeem the property before auction, the taxpayer no longer possesses an interest for the government to ‘take.’”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michigan-retiree-home-was-seized-for-8-41-in-unpaid-taxes

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Not Living in Michigan ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:20PM

So who gives two fucks?

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: KU,JHGF ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:24PM

In 2013, Uri Rafaeli learned that he underpaid the 2011 property tax bill on his modest home in a Detroit suburb. He attempted to pay the difference but miscalculated the interest due, unknowingly paying it $8.41 short\\

=======================

IT'S 2020, THEY PROMISED A REMEDY BY JULY 2020

THAT'S 9 YEARS - PLENTY OF TIME FOR A MAN OF 83 TO DIE

THE IMPLICATIONS ARE THAT THE COURT PROCESS IS ALREADY ARRESTED

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: rgthrgew ()
Date: February 16, 2020 11:24PM


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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: just kill democrats ()
Date: February 18, 2020 03:21PM

for for less than $9, the cost of a subway foot long,

the TAXPAYER HAS PAYED A MILLION IN LITIGATION FEES

WHY CAN'T WE JUST ARREST THEIR WHOLE GOVERNMENT AND SEND IN TEXANS ??

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: oisdfj ()
Date: April 29, 2020 03:59PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: sdfikd ()
Date: April 29, 2020 04:01PM

this is what you are in for with DEMOCRATS

democrats also "dress up mail" so it looks like junk mail so you don't notice a bill has arrived

democrats also "word things tricky" so you legitimately might think you'd paid it all when you haven't

$8 and they steal your home

it would be funny IF A JUDGE WASN'T SITTING ON THE CASE PROTECTING THE MICHIGAN COUNTY WITH AN ARMED FORCE FROM RETURNING THE LAND TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: sdfjffk ()
Date: April 30, 2020 04:24AM

dems at law

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: faggotry.com ()
Date: April 30, 2020 04:28AM

I'm k. I think I'm gay.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: oidfkkk ()
Date: June 05, 2020 04:23PM

democrats are evil

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: the Government ()
Date: June 05, 2020 05:07PM

We are the government!

The rules are simple,

Obey our laws
Pay your taxes in full and on time
Try to enjoy the freedoms that WE allow you to have
Do NOT fuck with us.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: ;;lloo ()
Date: June 09, 2020 10:07PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: hty6556j ()
Date: November 07, 2020 02:37PM

This is one reason why Gretchen Whitmer is willing to fund BLM - it's a deal with the devil

because she's running from the law

because she's been evicting people illegally and faces jailtime - her and her democrats

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Milkbags ()
Date: November 07, 2020 06:53PM

Governor Whitmer has big titties
Attachments:
65B08EC3-5512-4518-872E-ABD6A7D86DC9.webp

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: bfgnfgn ()
Date: November 08, 2020 05:41PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Fuck Wayne County niggers ()
Date: November 08, 2020 06:34PM

Fuck!
Saw that Detroit has the highest percentage of niggers in the US!

I will stay away from that shithole, even if I went with biden(who said young niglets are roaches).

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: e4rtn5bh ()
Date: December 22, 2020 04:45PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 5rg45h6 ()
Date: December 22, 2020 04:45PM

THis story needs a follow up.

what's the news??

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Early Morning Lawyer ()
Date: December 22, 2020 06:07PM

The news is that the Michigan Supreme Court threw out the law, finding it as absurd. Currently localities are fighting having to repay the retained proceeds. This isn't an authoritative source but it does cover it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHjVo2itV4w

The normal process in most states is that if a property owner fails to pay his taxes, the property can be sold on the courthouse steps for whatever price it will bring. The locality gets to keep the proceeds up to the amount of the tax debt plus costs of sale, with the rest being distributed to the mortgage holders and the property owner. The locality could purchase the property at the tax sale if it was the top bidder. If it did so and later sold the property the locality would get to keep the excess, because it owned the property.

Based on second hand sources it appears that Michigan in 1999 changed its laws to condense this two step process into a one step process. (This was done when there was a Republican governor and Republicans controlled the state Senate. Not sure about the House.) The locality was no longer required to purchase the property at the tax sale in order to profit from its sale. Depending on the terms of the law this could potentially screw over not only the property owner but the mortgage holders as well.

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: 4hbnbh ()
Date: December 31, 2020 09:24PM

d

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Re: A Michigan Man Underpaid His Property Taxes By $8.41. The County Seized His Property, Sold It—and Kept the Profits.
Posted by: Moses Noses ()
Date: January 02, 2021 01:32AM

Dox the bureaucrats and let the militia kill them all.

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