By Ben Joravsky
She certainly didn’t think she had to worry about unpaid bills. “All those years I was paying the mortgage,” she says. “I paid it off in the early part of 1996. I’ve never been behind. I never got a notice of any kind.”
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But the form letter, from a mortgage company in Park Ridge, changed all that. “Dear Homeowner,” it read. “A survey of the Cook County Recorder’s office shows that your 1995 property taxes were sold at auction. Unpaid property taxes are a serious matter that if left unresolved could result in the loss of your property. Meanwhile, your tax purchaser is charging you 18 percent interest on the unpaid balance of your sold taxes, further eroding the equity in your home.” Then came the sales pitch: “If the sold taxes have not been paid, [we] can help you! We are one of Illinois’ fastest growing mortgage banking firms. We have years of experience in helping people with all types of credit backgrounds to consolidate their unpaid tax bills, credit card bills, and more!”
The following Monday, Peavy took a half day off work and went to the county building. Her first stop was the assessor’s office. “The first lady I saw turned out to be the woman I had talked to on the phone,” says Peavy. “She looked my house up on the computer and says, ‘Oh, I see you owe on two sets of tax bills.’ I said, ‘But I only have one house.’ She said, ‘Well, they’re charging you for two lots.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know about a second lot–I just bought one.’ She said, ‘Well, your real estate attorney should have told you.’ I’m thinking, ‘Real estate attorney? What do you mean real estate attorney? My husband and I didn’t have a lawyer when we bought this house. We were just two working-class people struggling to get a home.’
And the driveway tax–does such a beast exist?
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo by Nathan Mandell.
