Kalamazoo mother loses home over one missed property tax payment

Fox 17 West Michigan – by Jessica McMaster

RICHLAND, Mich. — A mother from Kalamazoo is losing her home after she missed a property tax payment.

It has been a rough couple of years for Deborah Calley, who has overcome physical and mental obstacles following a devastating car accident.

The crash happened in 2008, and it left Calley with several injuries to her arms, wrists, and neck. She said also she had four big bruises on her brain.  

Calley was told the recovery process could take several years. Initially, she was unable to do most things for herself, the kinds of things most people take for granted, like driving or getting dressed in the morning.

In 2010, Calley paid cash for a home on Bunkerhill Drive in Richland that she thought would make recovery easier while she was still raising her two children. She called it her dream home.

“It was a five-minute walk from the middle school, a 10-minute walk from the high school, 10 minutes from the grocery store and the bank. Plenty of room for myself and my two girls,” Calley said.

Fast forward four years, and that dream home has now been foreclosed on after a single missed property tax payment.

“When I paid the taxes in 2012 right there in Richland, no one said, ‘Oh, well you still owe money for 2011,’”Calley said. “So, I didn’t really have a clue. I thought I was right on time.”

Calley admits that confusion and memory problems from her accident may have played a role in the missed payment.  Additionally, her realtor Becky Doorlag said most homeowners pay just two payments a year. However, because Calley lived in a village, she also had that payment.

Still, Calley said she should have been warned that her house was about to be foreclosed on.

Court documents show several notices were sent out from the county treasurer’s office over the last year. However, Calley said she didn’t see a single one.

FOX 17 Problem Solvers discovered that 10 letters were sent out.  However, only one was addressed to Calley. The others were sent to banks.

“I’ve never been affiliated with any of those banks, ever,” Calley said. A receipt from Calley’s realtor shows she paid more than $164,000 in cash for the home, so she didn’t have a mortgage.

As for the single letter that was addressed to her home, Calley said she didn’t get that one either.

“I know for a fact that it went back to this company called Title Check, because I have a receipt from the person at Title Check who signed it at their address in Kalamazoo,” Calley said.

Realtor Doorlag said confusion over property taxes causes a large number of foreclosures in Kalamazoo County. “Especially the elderly people, widows that have never paid bills. They’ve never paid their taxes.” Property tax payments are usually included in a person’s mortgage through an escrow account.

Calley has until Sept. 19 to convince a judge that proper notice of foreclosure failed to take place. She said she wants to pay what she owes and keep her home.

“She’ll pay it today if they’ll let her,” Doorlag said. “The government will take her home — the only thing that she has that she owns that’s paid off free and clear. That is her future and her retirement and her kids’ future. She will lose it to the government unless the judge has mercy.”

If the county decides to keep her home, it will be auctioned. If it’s sold for more than taxes owed, Kalamazoo County will also keep the profits. The last bid was nearly $80,000.

“To take my $164,000 house over less than $2,000, I would say that’s extremely excessive,” Calley said, sobbing. “If I had a mortgage, a bank never would’ve let that happen. It was a mistake. My life has been turned upside down because of this. I had to send my youngest daughter, who’s still in school, to live with her father so she can have a home, because I don’t know if I have a home anymore.”

FOX 17 contacted Kalamazoo County treasurer Mary Balkema, who referred us to Thom Canny, Kalamazoo County corporate counsel. He said other letters were sent to Calley in addition to the 10 listed in the court file. The county is within its legal rights to take her home, he said.

“If this was a case where there was a default or a defect in the notices, then we would agree that it shouldn’t go to foreclosure,” Canny said. “But, it’s just too late.”

http://fox17online.com/2014/09/15/kalamazoo-mother-loses-home-over-one-missed-property-tax-payment/

Update:

Kalamazoo Co. officials say home foreclosure is out of their control after woman’s property tax mistake

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — mooA Kalamazoo County woman continues to fight for her home after she missed a property tax payment, and a county attorney says the foreclosure is out of their control.

The debt, initially less than $2,000, is from a single missed payment from 2011. Deborah Calley said she has the money and wants to pay.

“When you have sunk your whole life savings and your whole family’s future into a piece of property it shouldn’t be able to go away over less than $2,000,” Calley said.

However, Thom Canny, corporate counsel for Kalamazoo County, said it’s too late and that the case is out of his hands.

“In this case we followed the statute and pursuing foreclosure is appropriate,” Canny said.

Canny said several notices were sent to Calley’s home warning her that foreclosure would take place. He showed FOX 17 a record of first class mail that was sent to the home since summer of 2013.

Calley’s attorney, Ven Johnson with Ven Johnson Law, says the process to foreclosure was not properly handled. He said part of the statute is to also send certified mail, adding that only one of ten of those notifications went to Calley’s address.   That notice was returned to sender.

“The county admitted in this case, under oath I might add Jessica, that the certified mail that was sent to Deb’s house came back,” Johnson said. “In other words, she never accepted it.  So, that means that the county knows it wasn’t successful.”

That’s not the only discrepancy, according to Johnson.    A signed affidavit shows county treasurer Mary Balkema and deputy treasurer Greg Vlietstra visited her home and personally delivered notice of foreclosure. However in a video obtained by FOX 17, Calley can be seen representing herself during a hearing. While questioning Vlietstra as to who he handed that letter to, he admits he met Calley for the first time in his office after that delivery was made.

When Calley asks Vlietstra who he handed the documents to he responded by saying, “As I stated previously, I don’t have a recollection for that property.”

Canny said that not being able to recall who these types of notices are handed to is not uncommon.

“They don’t know who they handed the letter to because they visit a couple of hundred properties during the course of the foreclosure process,” he  said.

Confusion over who the notice was handed to is an issue that Johnson said is important to the case.

“Deb’s already sworn under oath that it wasn’t her,” Johnson said. “She had two minor daughters at the time that could’ve been home. The county doesn’t know if they gave it to a minor.”

Canny said, while the county is required to give personal notice, it can include taping the letter to the door or handing it to someone at the home. He said it doesn’t have to be given to the owner.

“They just record that they were there–they talked to somebody who appeared to be responsible,” Canny said.

Calley said there’s no doubt it’s all because of one big mistake.

“When I paid the taxes in 2012, right there in Richland, no one said, ‘Oh, well you still owe money for 2011,’” Calley said. “I didn’t really have a clue. I thought I was right on time.”

Records show Calley made two payments in 2011, but because she lived in the Village of Richland, she also owed a third payment to them, which is the one she missed.

After airing Calley’s story on Monday, hundreds of people began commenting on the FOX 17 Facebook page.

Matt Coady wrote, “This just makes me sick to my stomach for this poor lady. A year behind ($2000.00) and the law is that you take this ladies 164000 home sell it and keep the proceeds. Nice. I’m glad I don’t have that job. That’s unconscionable.“

That seems to resonate with Calley.

“Clearly I’m not the only one who thinks, ‘How could this happen?’ So, I started to think maybe it is about the money,” Calley said.

The county could earn quite a bit of money off Calley’s mistake. Not only do they get the roughly $2,000 she owes in taxes, they also get to keep the profit from the auction. That could net more than $80,000.  That’s about what one bidder paid before asking for his money back.

Calley paid more than $160,000 cash for the home.

Still, the county attorney said the process to notify Calley met standards set by state law.  When we asked Canny if the safe guards to notify people of foreclosure were error-proof he said, “I would say they’re never 100 percent and if somebody raises a question we look at it.”

In Calley’s case, Canny said they have looked into it, adding he’s sure there’s nothing more they can do because the foreclosure has already taken place.

However, Calley’s attorney strongly disagrees.

“This is an absolute abuse of power by the Kalamazoo County Treasurer’s Office,” Johnson said. “This is a civil proceeding. This can be set aside by an agreement between the lawyers with the approval of the judge. All the judge cares about is that everything’s done legally and fairly. If Deb were to pay her taxes and the county were to agree to set aside the foreclosure all would be fine.”

The fate of Calley’s house will soon rest in the hands of a Kalamazoo County judge.

“It was a mistake. My life has been turned upside down because of this,” Calley said. “I had to send my youngest daughter, who’s still in school to live with her father so she can have a home, because I don’t know if I have a home anymore.”

The Association of Michigan County Treasurers is passing along tips to homeowners. It said when it comes to paying property taxes an owner has three years until a missed payment will make it legal for the county to take your home. A winter bill should arrive the week of Dec. 1. As for the summer, a homeowner will receive their bill the week of July 1. If either notice fails to show up, AMCT suggests calling the local county treasurers department.

AMCT also suggests if a homeowner gets notice of foreclosure, that they act on it before anything is finalized.

In Calley’s case, she claims notices were not received. The judge will reach a decision in the case at the beginning of October.

http://fox17online.com/2014/09/16/kalamazoo-co-officials-say-home-foreclosure-is-out-of-their-control-after-womans-property-tax-mistake/