Property taxes

[black50]

being delinquent that long and for that amount I'm surprised they haven't already foreclosed. my grandmother was late 6 months on a $1,500 tax bill and she was already receiving letters from the attorneys office saying they were about to start the paperwork. Luckily I seen the letter and immediately paid it off

I would also talk to her about transferring the deed to the house and land to you or one of the siblings in exchange for paying the taxes every year. This will also keep the state from taking the house if she goes into a nursing home in the future

[Buick355]

Pretty simple solution really. Learn to drive a golf ball 500 yards, be discovered by a former golf pro named Chubbs who got his hand bit off by a croc, then join the Pro tour.

[TexasDevilDog]

If it goes to tax auction, can you get it and forgive your mom?

[Broncojohnny]

Is the property worth seizing?

[BradM]

Good info posted by SVTLurch.

If your mother is over 65 years old or totally disabled, she can defer payment of current property taxes on her residential homestead until she no longer owns/occupies the home. Upon death/sale of the property, all taxes (included penalty and interest) must be paid within 180 days.

If she is not over 65 years old/totally disabled, she needs to contact the Rockwall county tax collector. She can set up a 36 month payment plan with the collector to get current on her taxes. If the installment plan is accepted by the tax collector, the property in question may not be seized and sold, nor can a suit be filed to collect the delinquent taxes unless there is a breach of the conditional agreement.

Good advice. It's weird how some properties can go 6 or 7 years without paying taxes. I talked to someone at our appraisal district that said the ones that sit longer are in smaller school districts that don't have someone keeping up with past due taxes. The isd's are usually the first to file suit.

[Rreemo]

I don't miss the property taxes in TX one bit, I only pay 1% here. And my taxes can never increase by more than 1% a year, no matter how much my house appreciates (which was 30% last year).

That's no lie, property taxes in some areas can get out of hand....Dallas has gone up quite a bit in recent years, but percentage-wise it's actually not as much as most people think. I think Dallas is somewhere around 2.7% for 2014, but of course they over-estimate value more often than not. Its ridiculous how many elderly folks lose their home after paying ~30-years straight, then get behind for 2-3 years and lose it all.

Luckily I live outside of the city limits, so we save the burden of city taxes....but even without it we were still at 1.72% for 2014.

I think in-general it's all relative though....doesn't California have something like 9% state income tax? If they don't get it from you one way they'll find another way.

[beefed88]

That's no lie, property taxes in some areas can get out of hand....Dallas has gone up quite a bit in recent years, but percentage-wise it's actually not as much as most people think. I think Dallas is somewhere around 2.7% for 2014, but of course they over-estimate value more often than not. Its ridiculous how many elderly folks lose their home after paying ~30-years straight, then get behind for 2-3 years and lose it all.

Luckily I live outside of the city limits, so we save the burden of city taxes....but even without it we were still at 1.72% for 2014.

I think in-general it's all relative though....doesn't California have something like 9% state income tax? If they don't get it from you one way they'll find another way.

I will take our property taxes over CA income taxes any day.

[BP]

I will take our property taxes over CA income taxes any day.

My wife moved to Texas 4 years ago and the state of NY is billing her for "estimated income taxes" for the time between moving and joining the Army.

[UserX]

I think in-general it's all relative though....doesn't California have something like 9% state income tax? If they don't get it from you one way they'll find another way.

That's the truth.

I will take our property taxes over CA income taxes any day.

There's more to it than just taxes... no toll roads, cheaper food, MUCH cheaper utilities (my electric bill was $23 last month) & much cheaper insurance rates, it balances out. Other than my house costing more, the cost of living here is the same to me. And one thing I can handle with the housing, it appreciates a lot. In TX you're lucky if your house appreciates more than the rate of inflation.