My friend is losing her home of over 25years due to social security's mistake-how nasty can it get

[Stargazer99]

Because of the SS overpayment a while ago she was having $174 deducted from her SS for payback but now they are deducting $740 per month and her property taxes are $6000 annually. She could make it on the $174 but not now with $740 deduction. That overpayment was not her fault but she is losing her home because of the change in deduction amount. Is there anything she can do?

[Ilsa]

1. Why are her property taxes so high?

Isn't she old enough for a big exemption?

Can she sell and downsize?

I hope things work out for her.

[Stargazer99]

4. Property taxes are in a well desired area so they went up in the years

[W_HAMILTON]

11. Still, make sure she is getting whatever exemptions she is entitled to.

I know where I live, she would get a homestead exemption as well as an elderly exemption.

If she's getting all that she entitled to and still owes that much in taxes, her home must be worth quite a bit. Have her look into a HELOC or something like that till she can get everything sorted out and budgeted for.

[Stargazer99]

5. There are no exemptions in this area for old age and low income

[W_HAMILTON]

12. What is the zip code where she lives? Or at least county/state?

EDIT: It looks like you said Washington in another post, so it looks like they do have similar exemptions: https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/property-tax/property-tax-exemption-seniors-people-retired-due-disability-and-veterans-disabilities

[Fiendish Thingy]

19. Yes, there seems to be more to the story than we've been told

She should qualify for the exemption.

[Ilsa]

14. Got it. It sounds like she may have to downsize or move.

I hate that she has to do that.

[marybourg]

2. The only thing I can think of is for her to call

ONE of her Senator’s offices and tell this story to staff.

[Submariner]

3. Can't hurt to call the ACLU

and ask if a deduction that cripples you financially like this is legal. If not, how best to fight it.

[LoisB]

6. I have no idea what she can do but I certainly hope someone knows. This is crazy; from

$174 to $740 is one heck of an increase. I hope it works out for her.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. How long has she not paid her property taxes?

Missing one year’s payment doesn’t typically result in the immediate seizure of the home, there is usually a late fee assessed, then further due process- what state does she live in?

This $740 deduction must have been going on for a year or more for her to have missed paying her annual taxes- there must be more to the story then you have shared.

[Stargazer99]

9. Washington and the $740 deduction has been recent increase

[Fiendish Thingy]

16. If it's a recent increase, then how could she be short funds to pay her taxes?

How could she be losing her home if this was a recent increase in the deduction?

Was she paying her taxes before the increased deduction?

There must be more to this story.

[questionseverything]

27. The current admin has increased her payment on the past overpayments

The property tax just happen to be a big expense

[haele]

34. Oof, Washington - No income taxes and everything is paid through Property and Sales taxes

It sounds like with SSI pulling the additional money, she won't be able to pay up during any grace period the state may give her, and will fall behind even further for the next couple years. Three years of non or partial payments, and they take you to court.
And yeah, there's some property tax exemption for old age - or poverty - on primary residences in Washington State. They'll work with you, but only so much. If your income is being garnished - by the State or the Feds, that is not an excuse for not paying what the State has assessed you to pay.
Even if she sells, she won't end up with enough after the sales tax plus her back property tax to get a smaller place to live, unless she did what my folks did when they retired and the property tax started cutting into their savings; they sold their Ravenna Park house of 35 years and moved to Albuquerque where they could afford to be comfortable in their old age.

[marybourg]

13. This is a tRump change to the previous Biden

policy. Very recent.

[LoisB]

8. Found this:

https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html

Maybe she can file an appeal.

[mountain grammy]

10. Wish I knew. Maybe take in a renter?

It's a gamble but sometimes it works out well.

It's scary getting old. You think you have it figured out and bam..

I'm a year younger than trump.. I just want to live to see him dead.

[Stargazer99]

15. Thank you all!

[synni]

17. Contact local churches and community charities--FAST

If she gets help paying her utilities, then she can use the utility money to put toward her property taxes.

There are also charities like the Salvation Army, and Community Action Partnership.

There may also be a local Agency on Aging, that could help her find the resources she needs.

Also...I was behind in my property taxes for two years, but my house wasn't sold out from underneath me right away. Interest was accruing, but I was able to pay everything off when I got on disability, and received my back pay.

Being late for your taxes does NOT necessarily mean the house will be sold right away. Use that time to get help with utilities, so she can save up enough money to pay the property tax.

That's how I saved my home, and I hope this idea will work for your friend.

[EdmondDantes_]

18. She must have not noticed the extra deposit for a long time

But also spent the extra money. But I agree that it's odd she would be losing her house over a single year's payment. I would suggest reaching out to her local state congressional rep and check for community resources.

[maxrandb]

23. Can't she just declare bankruptcy 5 times like the orange amphibian turd?

Oh, right. Different rules and all that.

Fucking MAGAt dipshits. The ONLY people they require to "live within their means", are those that can barely afford to live.

This person was paying the overpayment back at a reasonable rate. Donnie Dipshit and his Retrumplican ball-lickers in Congress said; "that's not good enough", and her payment increased $600 a month.

That could easily put her in a position to not be able to pay her Quarterly Property Tax and Insurance.

"She must have spent the money"?????

I guess she should have used Donnie Dipshit as an example, and used the overpayment to smurf, chip dump it in crypto, bought some bogus front companies, skim it off a charity, or participate in shady money transfer schemes.

Hell, she might even get a pardon, or an ambassadorship.

[EdmondDantes_]

29. Got it, no personal responsibility because Trump doesn't take it

That's no way to go through life. And yes she obviously doesn't have the money so it went somewhere. If my bank accidentally deposited a bunch of extra money in my account I don't get to keep it.

Yes it sucks Trump accelerated the time for repayment, but in the end, you can only control what you can control. The OP's friend can't control Trump's actions. But they can control their own.

[maxrandb]

33. She was paying the money back!

The 174 was deducted from her Social Security every month, through an agreement her country made with her to recoup the overpayment.

She gets foreclosed on, it impacts her neighbors property values, not to mention the support she was providing to her community through property taxes, the folks who work at the insurance company, the stock clerks at the local grocery store where she shops, the farmers that grow the food she can no longer afford.

If she were a fucking billionaire that defrauded the shit out of people, the MAGAts would argue "give 'em a break, they're job creators".

WTF do you think this women, spending her money in the economy, isn't?

[flvegan]

20. I believe you have 3 years (with penalties) before they can take

a home because of failure to pay property taxes (in Washington). With that level of income, your friend should qualify for legal aid. Something to look into. Best of luck to them!

[Gaugamela]

21. Is the tax overdue? What state is this in? How old is she? Has she talked to

the municipal tax office? They might have suggestions. Off the bat she could call her state representative. There are also organizations that advocate for seniors — you could google in your area. She could start a gofundme.

[irisblue]

22. Would she consider a GoFundMe?

[a kennedy]

32. Exactly.....

Am sick this has happened to her.

[Jacoby365]

24. I think there is a limit on how much they can withhold

percentage-wise, from each check. I imagine she checked into that?

[Timewas]

25. The payments

The reimbursment payment is negotiable, she needs to make an appointment and try work out a deal with them.. Sad part is it used to be they could not take more than 10% but now they can take the entire check unless it is SSI in which case they are still restricted to 10%

[Brainstormy]

26. tell her to call Legal Aid

at least she'll learn options.

[Bread and Circuses]

28. Unsolicited advice.

Please don’t let her to do anything rushed.

The facts seem to be murky. Her monthly income is down due to the need to pay back taxes? No information about how much the back taxes are and how long she’s been paying them back. Perhaps, she didn’t deduct enough to pay her taxes and now she has overdue taxes and penalty to be paid.

if she owns her own home, she should NOT sell. Talk to a family member and accountant. There’s equity in there, she’s scared and may panic. Please guide her to appropriate resources to help with food banks, etc.

It would be absurd for anyone to tell her to sell her house if she owes several thousands in back taxes.


It sounds like she has no savings ? No family or relatives who can give her a loan ?

[madinmaryland]

30. How much was she overpaid and did she know she was being overpaid?

[haele]

35. My father was overpaid for three years when he first signed up for Social Security...

Don't know how or why they glitched it in 2003, but it took them around three years to bring his allotment back down to what it should have been; he was given the option to pay back at around $50 a month or pay a lump sum of almost $2800.
He didn't know he was getting more money, between what they told him he was supposed to be getting and the COLAs.
There were also a couple years over the past 20 in which there was a COLA increase between 3% and 6%, and it could be easy to not to notice that the $120 increase a month really should have been $60, because one would think they didn't need to check the Government's math.

[nilram]

31. Reverse mortgage, maybe, if she needs some breathing room.

But there's many other better suggestions in this thread. This is very much a last resort.

[airplaneman]

36. A reverse mortgage is a horrible idea

You can easily owe as much as you borrowed in 6 years. Default rate is 18%. They can make you buy an expensive insurance policy including earthquake and flood coverage. Probably the worst way to borrow money.

[nilram]

37. Worse than I thought.

I hope the problem gets solved with one of the other fine suggestions.