Towns In Massachusetts Crack Down On Delinquents
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A few communities south of Boston, Massachusetts are cracking down on property tax delinquents. In Bridgewater, MA, a wall of shame was compiled so that authorities can post local tax evaders with bills that predated 2006. Officials believe that they can shame and embarrass delinquents into collecting the $1.6 million that the town is owed.
In Holbrook, which is a little way down the road, the treasurer-collector says that he may auction municipal tax debts to third-party debt collectors. A move like this would be able to recover some of the $4 million in real estate taxes that the town is owed up front. The Milton treasurer-collector recently paid to have a local newspaper publish the names of the top seven tax evaders in town, as a ploy to embarrass them, and a warning to others, that they too better foot the bill. This measure has rapidly brought in close to $1 million in tax debts.
With a tumultuous economy, municipalities like these towns are searching for any source of money that they can't find. Bridgewater doesn't have the cash flow to follow standard procedure for back tax collection. This means publishing the tax list in the newspaper and putting liens on the unpaid amounts on deeds in the county registry.
The usual efforts for the back tax collection are in motion; debtors will receive a warning letter for the last time next month. After this, the town might be more aggressive and sell the debts off to third party collectors. Authorities aren't sure if this is the greatest option however, seeing as local collectors know the whereabouts and personal situations of the debtors may actually better than a third party collector.
Towns striving to get back real estate taxes might also work with the homeowner's mortgage holder and let them know about the debt. The banks will typically pay the sum and then tack it into the mortgage.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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