In Kalamazoo, Deborah Calley was dealt a legal blow after a Kalamazoo County District Judge ruled the county was within its legal rights to sell the house she owns free and clear
because of one missed tax payment:
Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Gary Giguere, Jr.’s ruling agrees with what county officials told FOX 17 from the beginning: that the county was only following the law: “…the Court finds that the numerous and varied forms of notice the Petitioner used to notify Defendant [Calley] pursuant to the GPTA [General Property Tax Act] were reasonably calculated to apprise her of the foreclosure proceedings,” Giguere’s court ruling reads.
Deborah Calley maintains that she was unaware she owed any back taxes and of the ten certified letters sent by the county,
only one was sent to her home, the other nine were sent to banks. She steadfastly maintains she never received a single notice. She's also been willing from the get-go to pay the $2,000 debt, but the county has rejected her offers, preferring to sell her mortgage-free home:
“She’ll pay it today if they’ll let her,” Doorlag told FOX 17 in our original report. “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 still has time for one last appeal, but it may be too late:
Ven Johnson said they have 21 days to make an official appeal. He added that the county can sell the home, but if the appeal is successful they would be forced to give the home back.
Sadly, this is an all too common occurrence, where far too many victims of this overreach widows and the elderly. See the more background on the story
here.