101-year-old Detroit woman evicted over tax bill

[James48]

Source: Detroit Free Press

A 101-year-old woman has been evicted from the southwest Detroit home where she lived nearly six decades after her 65-year-old son failed to pay taxes on the home.

WXYZ-TV reports Texana Hollis was evicted Monday and her belongings placed outside the home. Warren Hollis tells the station he didn't pay the taxes for several years and several eviction notices had been received earlier, but he didn't tell his mother.

The home was paid for and Texana Hollis lived there 58 years. Her son lived with her.

A neighbor is letting them live in a rental house, and her belongings were being moved there. Others are working to get Texana Hollis back into her home.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20110913/NEWS01/110913013/1001/rss01

---

Sad, sad day when a 101-year old woman is tossed out in the cold.

[Rebubula]

1. Also sad...

...that a son would let this happen to his 101 year old mother.

Yeah...the authorities are assholes, but they are doing a job (to quote John Cougar - call it your job, uh-huh - sure don't make it right...if you want me to, I'll say a prayer for your soul tonight). The son dropped the ball here and deserves 95% of the scorn in this one.

If I had to guess...he probably thought that she would die soon and just played the odds. Asshole.

[itsrobert]

3. "Her son lived with her. "

Maybe his son just didn't have the money? He lost his home too.

[geckosfeet]

4. The son did not evict them. He did a silly thing, but he did not do the eviction.

People need to stand up for what is right instead of hiding behind 'orders' or 'doing their job'.

At some point you need to take personal responsibility.

[OnlinePoker]

9. He didn't do a silly thing

He did a stupid thing. He didn't pay taxes for seven years and ignored delinquency notices. Seriously, how long should a city or town go without collecting taxes on homes or businesses before action takes place? Seven years to me shows the city showed a lot of patience before they did the drastic step of eviction.

(Here's the news article where I got the seven years figure from)

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/a-101year-old-detroit-woman-has-been-evicted-and-all-her-belonging-are-in-three-dumpsters-outrside

[Shadowflash]

12. Where I live it's 2 years

of delinquent taxes and you're out in the third.

This sucks to be sure but, if the county waited seven years without payment, I'd say they were pretty patient and weren't 'chomping at the bit' to foreclose as some seem to be saying here.

Like someone else said, what can you do? If you don't start enforcing the tax laws, eventually, no one will pay them.


I feel bad for the officials that were put in the position of having to do this almost as much as the woman.

[plumbob]

67. So an actual lifetime counts for nothing. The county needs the pennies

so that they can give away millions in tax dollars to "industries" moving into the area and exempt them for 10 or 20 years at a time, right?

At 101, we deserve no benefit of the doubt, no delay, no mercy of any kind.

And the cruelty of throwing all her belongings in the dumpster is just egregious. I'm hoping whoever decided that and whoever did that both suffer mightily and soon, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I wish them ill.

[trud]

76. plumbob

Where did it say they threw her stuff into a dumpster? Not in that linked to story.

[plumbob]

79. Here it is.

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/a-101year-old-detroit-woman-has-been-evicted-and-all-her-belonging-are-in-three-dumpsters-outrside




101-year-old Detroit woman evicted, her belongings thrown in the dumpster


Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/a-101year-old-detroit-woman-has-been-evicted-and-all-her-belonging-are-in-three-dumpsters-outrside#ixzz1XrTObIvj

[No Elephants]

14. The homeowner is 101,. Any evidence a tax lien on the home would not have sufficed?

She'll probably die this year or very soon; and this is very likely to hasten her death.

The place can be auctioned after she dies and the tax lien satisfied that way.

Would it have been better to put her in a nursing home or senior housing or even a private rental at taxpayer expense?

She was taken to the hospital, disoriented. Do people her age deserve to have their lives shortened simply because they can't afford to pay real estate taxes?

I bet she's over paid for many years anyway. Most communities give relief on real estate taxes to those who are old and low income, but it doesn't sound as though she or her son were sufficiently together to find out about such things and apply. However, I admit this is only a supposition on my part. I stand on my original point about the city being able to be made whole by a tax lien.

[OnlinePoker]

25. The son should have stepped forward sooner.

If he or his mother were fiscally unable to pay, there might have been something the city could do. At the least, he should have gone to his councilman to see if there was something that could be done. By ignoring the taxes for seven years, he only made a bad situation worse. I don't put any blame on the woman, but the son was an idiot.

[No Elephants]

32. You're missing the point. She is the both homeowner and the victim here. Her son is irrelevant.

It is not his duty to pay her real estate taxes. It's hers. And she will be the one who suffers most, though he may suffer as well.

Please Replies 10, 13, 15 and 19.

[midnight]

26. This makes sense.

[snooper2]

34. Your post is bordering a little bit on ageism we hear about on DU all the time

wouldn't you say?

[No Elephants]

36. Saying a 101 year old woman is likely to die soon is ageism?

[Gormy Cuss]

40. In some states this woman would have some or all of the tax exempted under homesteading provisions

if the house has a low enough value and her income is low too. I wonder if any similar laws exist in MI.

[No Elephants]

44. True. Also, I said she may have overpaid for years, given

that many cities give a break to seniors who don't have a lot of money and neither the mom or the sound seem to have been together enough to look into something like that, or even to seek out an advocate.

In Boston, for instance, I think (without googling) that you'd be eligible is if you are over 67, low income and lesss than 40K in assets other than your home. This is above and beyond the "owner occupied" exemption.

However, the city does not really publicize the benefit very much

[Gormy Cuss]

62. Why publicize it? Poor people might actually take advantage of it.

:sarcasm:

In the neighborhood where I grew up the struggling homeowners weren't aware of it until we elected a community organizer to the legislature.

[No Elephants]

65. LOL! Some poor people do have a nasty habit of participating in programs designed to help them.

[geckosfeet]

83. Wait. Throw a one hundred year old out - but let corporate entities run free?

Take it somewhere else - please.

[Rebubula]

11. Agree on personal responsibility

The son had received several tax notices and eviction warnings...he needs to take personal responsibility.


He could have appealed to any number of organizations\people to help him - yet he ignored them all.


Again - the system that would put an old woman on the streets is horrendous. Sticking your head in the sand and letting your mom get evicted is just as bad...

[No Elephants]

15. He may not have been functioning at a high level, but she is the homeowner, not him.

For all we know, he may be challenged or mentally unstable, but that is irrelevant.

It's fine to be all judgmental about him, but he is beside the point. Judging the son is very convenient, but not the issue. This would never have made the paper if it was about him. It isn't. It's about her.

She is the homeowner; paying real estate taxes was her responsiblity, but she is 101. She is the one likely to die because of this. Do you think that's right?

See also Reply 14.

Does the city not share some of the responsiblity?

[Romulox]

30. Understand the context of all of this: Detroit is a city of block after block of empty subs...

It is also a city in which perhaps 1/3 or less of the people pay their property taxes in a given year. Detroit is already the de facto owner of vast tracts of tax repossessed land in all states of repair. In fact, there is simply not enough money in the city budget to pay for the demolition of even a portion of these abandoned homes and businesses.

So now the city owns ANOTHER modest home, which will be unlikely to ever inhabited again. This is not LA or NY or even Chicago; the chance of the sale of the home offsetting any taxes is slim. So this action is both senseless AND malicious, and shows no evidence of human discretion or compassion. That's Detroit for you! :cry:

[No Elephants]

33. I do understand the context. I also understand that this 101 year old

woman could have been a much bigger burden on the city than whe was, if she had not remained in this home with her son taking care of her, for whatever else his faults or illnesses may have been.

[Romulox]

42. Sorry. Meant to respond to the main thread. I agree with you. nt

[No Elephants]

48. No worries. No offense taken. I realized we were both on the woman's side.

As far as posting in the wrong spot, I am the expert at that. Typos, too. So no worries there, either.

[plumbob]

68. So who decided to throw all her belongings in the dumpster?

That person deserves a good old fashioned beating.

[No Elephants]

16. Silly or not, it may have been the best he was capable of doing. But she is the homeowner.

[SkyDaddy7]

66. The son is at fault here...100% at fault. No one else. nt.

[Yo_Mama]

5. If I had to guess, he probably just didn't have the money

Let's see. 62 year old in Michigan, the state that entered a real depression years before the rest of the country (unemployment was over 15%), loses job, what hope getting another?

He could have asked his mother to take out a reverse mortgage on the home to pay taxes, but it was very hard to get much on any Detroit home.

My guess is that this man is being abused due to his own poverty and the economic conditions in the area in which he lives.

[No Elephants]

10. Wow, what a guess. If I had to guess, I'd say he probably did not have the money

and/or may not have been wrapped too tight.

Age 65, apparently unmarried and dependent on his 101 yr old mom for a home? Sounds like a sad case to me, not a cold-blooded, ruthless one.

[Matariki]

70. The son is what, a 70 or 80 year old man?

Sounds like his situation is as bad as hers.

[roguevalley]

82. and then again, they are probably poor, he could be ill himself

taking care of an old old woman and any number of other things. It would be extremely premature to make hard judgements. After all, 15% of us are below the poverty line now. Meet two of them here.

[NYC_SKP]

2. And now the house will sit vacant, only to decay or burn to the ground.

If otherwise, they might have a chance of convincing a person that this wasn't unreasonable...

As it is, it's just sick.

[Demeter]

6. The son could have done something

and even so, in this corporate makeover of Detroit, would the city have come to compassion?

Odds are, charity from individuals would have carried the day. Still, most people look at that as begging.

On the grounds of elder abuse alone, something could have happened....probably jailed the son.

You have to be very ruthless and clever to survive in these times and at poverty levels. And you have to persist, to keep the authorities at bay.

Too many people think they get to decide.

[No Elephants]

19. We don't know whether the son could have done something or not. That may be the highest level

at which he is capable of functioning.

[SpartanDem]

87. He was functioning enough to take a mortage

on a house that was paid for

[trud]

7. This is why I manage my own money., n/t

[No Elephants]

24. I'm guessing you're not 101, though.

[trud]

77. I'm not 101, but

I'm getting up there. I have made provisions as best I can legally for the financial future. If I feel myself slipping, I will make more stringent arrangements.

My grandmother made it to her mid-nineties with all her marbles.

[wordpix]

90. sometimes you don't know you're slipping, like my mom with Alzheimer's

[fasttense]

8. This is the glorious Raygun/bush society.

Where you don't matter to anyone. Where no one cares about you. Where the weakest among us are nothing more than prey for the rich and powerful. Where there is NO Justice. Where billion dollar corporations pay NO taxes and get subsidies from their government, while 101 year old ladies are thrown out on the streets by their government.

The Teabaggers talk a lot about freedom but do you ever hear them talk about Justice?

[Art_from_Ark]

43. +1

[former9thward]

53. Detroit has no Republicans.

To blame what city government does on Bush/Reagan is to excuse them.

[Octafish]

91. You are quite right. Detroit's Republicans left after the riots in 1967.

They took the jobs with them. Then, being the patriotic people they are, they outsourced the jobs to Mexico first, then China.

It seems to have been a BFEE operation.

[Iggo]

13. She deserves it because her son's an idiot.

Is that what I'm hearing here?

[Javaman]

18. yes, sad isn't it? nt

[No Elephants]

22. Yes, and without the least bit of embarrassment. DPINOs

(Democratic Posters in Name Only)

[Rebubula]

46. No...no one is saying that

Jesus - no one is saying that she deserved anything.

Well...I only speak for myself - but the blame belongs on the son who KNEW about the taxes and ignored the eviction warnings.

It is horrible that she was evicted (and inhuman at best) - but to place all the blame on the system\city\whatever is myopic.

[No Elephants]

51. Who said the city has all the blame? And, we don't know anything about the son, except that he

lived with his mother at age 65. You're judging him without knowing.

He may have had no choice but to ignore the eviction warnings because he had no money. However, he was not the only one who was evicted. She was. And her belongs put in the dumpster by the city to boot.

So, saying what the son should have done (assuming he was capable of doing anything more than he did), is beside the point as to her.

[Rebubula]

55. Always options

I am not trying to pick a fight with you nor am I trying to blame the older woman.

However, I am saying that the son had other options. You are judging the situation (or at least making assumptions based on his living with his mom - you have posited that he may be of diminished capacity) as am I - without all the facts. That is life on the Internet.

This story does not live in a vacuum - there are always other points. I agree that this is beyond sad and should never happen to anyone of that age. However, the son - regardless of his state - KNEW about these problems and ignored them. I am CERTAIN that had he reached out to someone (council member - TV\paper News etc) that he would have been able to stave this off.

We agree on the main points of this story - but are focusing on different sections.

[No Elephants]

61. Yes, we are both speculating. My speculation gives him the benefit of the doubt, though.

Your post assumed he thought he could safely ignore the tax notices because his mother was likely to die soon.

"However, the son - regardless of his state- KNEW about these problems and ignored them"

Point is, he may have been mentally, emotionally and financially incapable of doing any more than he did. Saying "regardless of his state" doesn't take that into account.

ETA: Nor does claiming there are always options. Sometimes, people are emotionally paralyzed, or hopeless alcoholics. Or whatever.

I have no idea why, given that this was his home, too, I should assume he had options, was capable of pursuing them and nonetheless wilfully and deliberately chose not to pursue them.

Bottom line, though: someone threw a 101 year old woman on the street and threw her belongings into a dumpster while they were at it.

[plumbob]

69. So why was it necessary to put her belongings in the dumpster?

That's a thumb in the eye by some sadist sitting in an office just waiting to show how tough they are.

I hope whoever made that decision falls over a curb and breaks their neck and ends up paralyzed for life, and then has the plug pulled because they have no money.

Yes, I'm angry, no, I'm not being sarcastic, and no, I don't believe in Jesus.

[greiner3]

17. So the 'Liberal Compassionate;'

On this thread are likening the couple to the Ron Paul thread where the audience is yelling 'let them die.'

Way to go neo-DU.

[sam11111]

21. huey Long ended evictions: California had free college before RR governor

Progressives have the answers but the RW overturns them.

[No Elephants]

23. 101 mom and 65 yr old son. Not a" couple," per se. Neo DU. Good one.

[hedgehog]

20. Someone deserves a gold star today:

In the meantime, a local businessman came by and said he will check on the back taxes and pay them if he can so Hollis can move back to her home.

Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/detroit/a-101year-old-detroit-woman-has-been-evicted-and-all-her-belonging-are-in-three-dumpsters-outrside#ixzz1XpyZ5xsH

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. I hope the city will accept his help

and not dismiss him for intruding in city business.

Detroit city bureaucrats can be unhelpful at times.

:hi:

[Dutchmaster]

27. Nice to see people on a progressive board cheering the eviction of

a 101 year old woman. nice job.



sick fuckers.

[snooper2]

35. Please point to the post number in this thread that is cheering her conviction

simple..

Just put a pound #n

n = post number...

[No Elephants]

38. Would "justifying her eviction and being judgmental about it" make it better?

[snooper2]

45. No, that is a total change in verbiage from the post I responded to..

But I guess that would be equal to you widely speculating about 1000 different things around there situation..


And you have failed to ever answer my question. What did an elephant ever do to you and why do you hate them so much? Is it because they don't have the best hygiene?



:rofl:

[No Elephants]

49. Exactly my point. I asked if a change in wording would improve the post to which you responded.

Because, in my view, the more accurate statement spoke just as poorly about some posters.

Where I speculated, that was clear my wording. I find that preferable to folks who jump to a conclusion as post as though it were undeniable fact. That is rampant on this thread, yet you found no fault with it.

Speaking of jumping to conclusions, where did I say I hate elephants so much?

[snooper2]

58. No Elephants

[No Elephants]

63. Again, "no elephants" does not mean I hate elephants. Not sure why you're not getting that.

[Occulus]

52. If silence is assent, we can use the posts of the people justifying it

without explicitly saying it's wrong as our answer.

And there are a lot of those.

[Arctic Dave]

28. Wow, I hope owners and managers of this site love their new makeover.

Barf worthy.

[Romulox]

29. The Detroit city government is staffed by some of the worst human beings on the planet.

At least that I've encountered. Like so much in Detroit, all you can ask is, "WHY?". :cry:

[buckrogers1965]

37. Retired people should not pay property taxes.

When you go onto social security, you already have so little that it will be a struggle to make it. Do we really want to evict 100 year old people from their homes because they didn't pay ever increasing property taxes?

Keep in mind that housing prices dropped by half in the many areas in the last decade, but the property taxes kept going up.

Isn't 60 or 70 years of paying property tax increases enough?

[No Elephants]

39. Most cities give retired persons who don't have much money a break.

Someone can retire at 62 and may not have paid taxes very long at all. I understand what you are saying overall, though.

[snooper2]

47. All retired people? Retired people who own their homes?

Retired people with no investments?

Retired people with a 40K house or a 400K house?

[No Elephants]

50. Reading comprehension much? The entire thread, as well as the specific post to which I replied,

are about real estate taxes and homeowners.

As to specifics, they vary by locale (duh). There is no federal law or uniform law of local real estates taxes.

I posted what I believe to be the case in Boston elsewhere on this thread. And, AFAIK, in Boston, the value of the home does not affect eligiblity for the break.

Income, assets and age are the only factors. However, as I specified in that post, I didn't google, so I am going from memory.

Did you have a point?

[snooper2]

57. Why do you keep replying to my posts that weren't directed to you?

Above I replied to #27 Dutchmaster, and you jumped in

Here I replied to #37 buckrogers1965, and you jumped in


Are you having trouble following which posters are responding to each other? Or you just want a date :) I'd have to get permission from my wife first of course :rofl:

[No Elephants]

64. That's how a message board works. People see a post that they agree with

and post "+1" or some words of agreement, or add to it, even if it not directed to them. Or, they post words of disagreement, even if the post is not directed to them. Surely, you must have noticed that?

"Or you just want a date" No thanks.

[plumbob]

71. I agree. A lifetime of work should count for something.

And for those that don't understand that raising a child is work, without a check, study up.

[Romulox]

41. Understand the context of all of this: Detroit is a city of block after block of empty subs...

It is also a city in which perhaps 1/3 or less of the people pay their property taxes in a given year. Detroit is already the de facto owner of vast tracts of tax repossessed land in all states of repair. In fact, there is simply not enough money in the city budget to pay for the demolition of even a portion of these abandoned homes and businesses.

So now the city owns ANOTHER modest home, which will be unlikely to ever inhabited again. This is not LA or NY or even Chicago; the chance of the sale of the home offsetting any taxes is slim. So this action is both senseless AND malicious, and shows no evidence of human discretion or compassion. That's Detroit for you!

[47of74]

54. Yo, idiots that did this...Matthew 23

Especially this part!

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation. (Matt 23:14)

[leftyladyfrommo]

56. Jeesh. Her son is probably 80.

This sort of thing just shouldn't happen. That is what social workers are for.

[No Elephants]

59. Article says 65, but I agree this kind of thing should not happen.

We don't know that any social worker knew of this situation.

However, Whoever evicted her and threw her belongings into a dumpster knew. Granted, that person was probably lower level or maybe even a contractor, but still should have had enough judgment and humanity to make a phone call.

[plumbob]

72. Yes, I wish the person who actually did the dumpster tossing a slow and

lonely death.

I can do that. I'm not a Christian, and I don't believe in forgiveness.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

73. I'm sure there was a process that was followed

with multiple notifications before the eviction. Apparently, the "dim son" (no relation to our ex-president) ignored all the notices. Mom, being 100 years old, probably didn't handle the mail (not that her son did much better).

I think the city needs to change the process, so there's a visit by social services before the final eviction (or power or water cutoff), just to make sure the occupant is ok and understands the meaning of the notices.

Southwest Detroit is mostly modest houses, the taxes can't be huge, even with Detroit's high tax rates.

:hi:

[JEB]

60. There really needs to be

a homestead exemption, especially for senors. While timber companies with vast tracts of land pay at vastly lower rates and other corporations are offered incentives we throw a 101 year old woman to the mercy of her neighbors. ARGH!

[SoapBox]

74. What a horrible story....

Let's see if any GOPBaggers come to her rescue.

KKKoch Bothers? Can you spare a dime to help out??

...didn't think so.

[alp227]

75. But GE still gets to do business in the US despite paying no taxes! n/t

[wordpix]

88. good point. Even my bro the Repub agrees GE should pay taxes!

[trud]

78. NO DUMPSTER

Where the h*ll does it say her belongings were put in a dumpster, yet that is being repeated ad nauseum in this thread.

[closeupready]

80. We moan about 'put Christ back in Christmas!', yet our society can be so cold and commercial.

Stories like this are why I am increasingly pessimistic about the future.

[Vinca]

81. What a rat the son is!

They might have been able to arrange some kind of financing if she owns the place - you can't ignore bills and eviction notices. Poor thing - hope they can get her back home.

[jzodda]

84. I was thinking about this and the Republican debate on CNN

If Wolf had brought this up you can be sure the crowd would have roared "Let her Die!"

[tammywammy]

85. According to the Huffington Post they took out an ARM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/13/texana-hollis-eviction_n_960979.html

Wayne County Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Hollises took out an adjustable-rate mortgage in 2002. A default and foreclosure notice was filed in November.

"They ended up owing $80,000 on the home," Szymanski said. "Warren indicates he did not make the payments. He got the notices, but threw them away."
-----


I'm interested to know if the ARM was under both their names.

And according to the USA Today article:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/09/101-year-old-woman-evicted-from-detroit-home/1?csp=34news

The house was paid for, but in 2003 her son, Warren, 65, persuaded her to sign it over to a "reverse mortgage" company in return for $32,000, ostensibly for repairs. He admits he spent thousands on himself, didn't pay property taxes and didn't tell mom about the eviction notices. The house now belongs to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
-----


Sounds like quite the shitty son.

[totodeinhere]

86. That sounds like criminal elder abuse to me.

Assuming that the account is correct, the son needs to be investigated and charged if it looks like he violated elder abuse laws.

[tammywammy]

94. Agreed!

My grandfather is 90 no one in my family, NO ONE, would do such a thing to him. He just went into a nursing home a month ago, and my aunt was discussing how they will need to sell his house in maybe a year, and that money goes right back to him for his care.

[wordpix]

89. the son is a rat; take mom to good care facility & let him fend for himself

:grr: living on an old mom's money. She was in her 90's when he persuaded her to get the reverse mortgage

[unkachuck]

92. "A 101-year-old woman...

...has been evicted from the southwest Detroit home where she lived nearly six decades..."

....just another day in America; pay attention, emigres....

....for heavens sake, she's 101, can't we cut the old girl some slack?....go hang a bankster, or something....

[SpartanDem]

93. Hang her son who took a reservse mortage

on a paid for house

http://detnews.com/article/20110913/METRO01/109130377/1361/101-year-old-Detroit-woman-evicted-over-tax-bill

[Gormy Cuss]

95. HUD: evicted 101-year-old Detroit woman going home

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/13/national/a121713D25.DTL

[Ian David]

96. Texana Hollis, 101-Year-Old Evicted Woman, Is Getting Home Back

Texana Hollis, 101-Year-Old Evicted Woman, Is Getting Home Back
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/texana-hollis-to-get-home-back_n_963406.html