"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"

"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"
aka "Miss Victory"

Friday, September 12, 2008

Melyssa Donaghy's new mortgage payment up more than $400 per month due to predatory taxation


NO RELIEF: My Meridian Kessler Home
lost to predatory politicians
.
Mortgage companies reconcile escrow accounts once a year, so not everyone's house payment will go up at once to compensate the state's self-proclaimed property tax "relief". We will hear about scenarios like mine in staggered fashion mirroring America's economy slipping away in tortured slow motion while no politician has the courage to stop it.

The first bank draft for my new payment came yesterday. Countrywide needs an additional $400 per month for to pay the State of Indiana.

Ten years ago, I bought a house I could afford and got a fixed mortgage. I saved five years to get enough money for the down payment. I don't have credit card debt. I paid cash for my car. I try to be responsible with money.

I wasn't greedy, nor did I hook up with a predatory lender. It would seem the mistake that I made was to live in a state filled with predatory and lawless politicians.

Where is MY federal bailout to save me from an ineffective, do-nothing, heartless, self-serving, cowardly state legislature?

Here it is ten years after I moved into my home, and even though I make more money than I ever have in my life, I fear I won't be able to keep up. There is absolutely no cushion in my monthly budget whatsoever.

Making matters worse, it is now impossible for me to save money for a rainy day or so that I am self-reliant and not dependent on charity or government handouts when I'm old.

I won't be shopping at the mall or patronizing local businesses like I did in the old days. I don't have money to buy clothes or anything extra anymore. Taking a vacation is out of the question.
The extra money I once had to circulate in the economy goes straight to the state.

As more people start to get their increased mortgage payments you are going to hear anguished cries from the middle class as we have to decide between keeping our homes having a life.

Meanwhile slick politicians like State Senator Teresa Lubbers try to make you think they are doing something about property tax. Once you've watched her in action for awhile it becomes apparent that her only concern is to keep gorging on her taxpayer funded 401k (with it's 4-to-1 match) while doing nothing to help the people... even her closest neighbors.

I would not be a bit surprised if tax-stressed neighbors picket her house one day soon .

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear, but be happy to that the state is in a better position than ever to borrow from the bond banks.

Diana Vice said...

Keep fighting Melyssa! The message is getting out; taxpayers are getting more restless by the day! You're doing great work on our behalf.

Anonymous said...

I am paying between 500 and 600 more per month for the same situation. I'm fixing my house up to sell it. I know they will come down a little after the back taxes are paid, yet the house has not improved in any material way. Yes, in a few more years it will get down to what it was, but then, it was there for a reason and 1 percent seems like a standard. Why do I have to make up the difference of the business inventory tax for 2-3 years?

Worse, a person I know on your street, less than 1.5 blocks away is paying 6x what he did when he bought a fire-gutted home in 2002-03. Although now, after 6 years of renovation, his house is finally starting to be usable, he still eats out most nights because his kitchen is unusable. His original taxes were 900 and now are 5000. His house could have been condemned, etc., but he put the good old-fashioned elbow grease into it to fix it, following the anachronism of the American Dream (as we now know) and was punished because of his belief.
No one will admit to this particular issue. Prob not Teresa because even tho hers has gone up to astronomical amounts, maybe she and hubby can afford it. But the For Sale by Owner signs (not the satirical fake ones you authored)but the real ones are increasing and even people like me who've lived in their houses over 20 years are now thinking of selling.
But don't worry Mitch and Teresa and anyone else in the know - we know that you will be out of office naturally before the real price of your treachery hits......

Anonymous said...

I am paying between 500 and 600 more per month for the same situation. I'm fixing my house up to sell it. I know they will come down a little after the back taxes are paid, yet the house has not improved in any material way. Yes, in a few more years it will get down to what it was, but then, it was there for a reason and 1 percent seems like a standard. Why do I have to make up the difference of the business inventory tax for 2-3 years?

Worse, a person I know on your street, less than 1.5 blocks away is paying 6x what he did when he bought a fire-gutted home in 2002-03. Although now, after 6 years of renovation, his house is finally starting to be usable, he still eats out most nights because his kitchen is unusable. His original taxes were 900 and now are 5000. His house could have been condemned, etc., but he put the good old-fashioned elbow grease into it to fix it, following the anachronism of the American Dream (as we now know) and was punished because of his belief.
No one will admit to this particular issue. Prob not Teresa because even tho hers has gone up to astronomical amounts, maybe she and hubby can afford it. But the For Sale by Owner signs (not the satirical fake ones you authored)but the real ones are increasing and even people like me who've lived in their houses over 20 years are now thinking of selling.
But don't worry Mitch and Teresa and anyone else in the know - we know that you will be out of office naturally before the real price of your treachery hits......

Anonymous said...

We have the previous mayor and democrat city council, not to mention the schools, to blame. The state did not do their spending. Where was everyone prior to the fall of '07?

Anonymous said...

your situation mirrors my family situation. We too, saved and bought a home we could afford that needed much work--low fixed rate mortgage. I live in the same neighborhood as you (just around the corner). We have always been responsible with money--no credit cards, pay cash for what we need. Now I must say "no" to my children when they ask me to buy fresh fruit at the grocery. We don't even turn on our air conditioning during the hot summer days. Our property taxes have increased roughly 800% since we purchased in 2000. Thanks for the work you have done in bringing awareness to the public!

Anonymous said...

Lubbers husband is a slick insurance executive. Why do you think there is no insurance competition in this state and the rates are so high?

M Theory said...

I know the burned out house you are talking about and watched the work being done it.

Before that house burned and the new owner started to renovate it looked like a hermit had lived in it for 50 years. It was creepy, to say the least.

Evidently no one wanted the house. So someone comes along and saves it and he's penalized. He should be awarded! Where's his tax abatement?

Property tax repeal is the ONLY fair answer. That way the rest of us are on a level playing field.

And 5:39 is right...we do have Bart and the CCC to blame for the spending, however, the legislature never put down laws for spending controls, nor did they ever fix this broken system.

Anonymous said...

Out of curiousity how can the bank raise escrow when they do not know what this years taxes are yet? Marion county is still waiting for this years tax bill. I note the legislature dangling the one percent hope in front of us for next year but what of this year? They will pickpocket us again. It is really bad when we have to wonder and worry what our property tax bill will be. Sept. and still waiting for a bill that is required to be paid in a big lump sum.No citizen should have to worry and wonder if they can keep their home nor should they have to do extra labor to be able to live in the home they once could afford.

Anonymous said...

We need property tax activists to collaborate with those seeking state reform of illegal hiring (No, NOT the "throw them on the first truck out of here" reform). Together, we might give it a go on behalf of Steve Keltner against Senator Lubbers, who disavows any knowledge of illegal immigrants getting medical care. We have to protect our incomes AND infrastructure. Any takers?

Anonymous said...

VOTEKELTNER.com

Anonymous said...

I've read items from the Keltner website. The medical paper by Mr. Keltner seems like it has good ideas. Where is his stand on immigration reform?

Anonymous said...

America has proven time and again, we are the most generous nation on earth. But we are also prone to let the emotional side of that generous spirit overpower our business prowess- as in the case of illegal immigration.

Mexico, for example, is not a poor country - but a poorly run country. Consistently ranked as one of the 10 wealthiest nations in the world, it has been overrun by monopolies and government corruption. As a result, a few acquire great wealth while the rest cry out for fairness.

In truth, we cannot expect to survive with open boarders and high levels of taxpayer provided benefits.

Canada. like most of Europe, has a large immigration program, but does not tolerate illegal immigration. The rules are simple. Without a passport and proper visa, and you're a person without a country or rights.

As to the jobs that no American will perform - If elected I plan to use those jobs to give Hoosier welfare recipients work experience. They now get a check and I expect some labor in return. In the end, they will build a work record and skills with which they can move into the workforce.

Allowing millions of people into the country, from any nation, without proper health screenings is unraveling decades of preventative medicine benefits and must be addressed. Tuberculosis and hepatitis are on the rise in our nation due to lax boarders. The health of our state, and nation, depend on controlled immigration.

There are many areas in which the states have had success in addressing immigration. We must do all in our power as a state to fill in the gaps between Federal and State authority.

When accessing which benefits to cut in an effort to give relief to taxpayers, illegal immigrants are perhaps an unfortunate, but obvious choice. So obvious, that no other nation in the world accommodates such behavior.