unpaid garbage bills. Because the City of Buffalo bills residents for garbage services separately from standard property taxes, even banks could get confused, which is what happened. The daughter’s mortgage bank was responsible for paying property taxes, but somehow, the garbage user fees were overlooked. When a relative of the alleged new owner appeared at the door, demanding that her parents move or pay rent, they contacted the local news station for help in exposing this story. Happily, for them, a local law firm took the case pro bono, so they didn’t have to worry about court fees. After two years in the courtroom, the sale of the house was overturned and the elderly parents didn’t have to move out. The lawsuit opened up discussions and helped to put new practices into place to slow the foreclosure process, but the issue of the separate garbage fee remains. Homeowners and businesses still must be vigilant in paying their bills because a few delinquent dollars could snatch their property out from underneath them. Not everyone who falls victim to these circumstances enjoys a positive outcome. The saddest part is that most of the victims are elderly people, especially those suffering from memory loss in some way, and potentially the loss of a loved one, as well. In Rhode Island, for example, an 81-year-old woman fell behind on a sewer bill of $474. The city sold the home to a corporation in a tax sale for $836.39. That’s less than a monthly mortgage bill for some people. Although she had lived in the home for 40-plus years, she was evicted and the corporation resold the home for $85,000. In a foreclosure case, what can be worse than throwing elderly women out into the street over a few hundred bucks? It’s hard
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