• Lisa Simpson
• Dec 17,2009
• In: Foreclosures

Senior Citizens are Apprehensive of Losing Their Homes and Hearths

Long four decades ago when Robert Peter Rogers was discharged from the Navy he promised his fiancée that he would give her hamburgers. At that time Julie Ann, in the peak of her youth, told him that she would rather have a house where she could cook for him all the hamburgers he wanted. That dream came true and they got their house. But the couple, disabled as they are today, could lose it because of the tax deferral programme of the state being suspended.

Julie Ann Roberts is now 59. Standing beside her husband in North Hills where they have been residing for more than two decades she said, “It’s scary. Here you think you’ve finally settled into a place. You’re of retirement age. And boom. We can’t afford to pay the taxes”

The Rogers are not alone. 5,700 Californians were dropped this year in spring from a programme that had been running for 30 years letting off low-income senior citizens from paying their property taxes. This programme of the state has become one the casualties of the budget trimmings. According to it the tax bill was paid by the state and the state got it back with interest when the owners either sold off the property or when they died. Without this support many seniors are now facing the risk of losing their shelter.

As per law the counties cannot enforce the sale of a residence until the taxes remain hanging for 5 years. But banks can proceed with foreclosures when the property taxes lag behind. Most of the elders under this programme pay mortgages. One out five residents of Los Angeles County are under this scheme – more than in any other region of California.

Jean Ross of California Budget Project said, “It allowed them to make ends meet to stay in the house. It was highly targeted. It was highly effective.” Ross is researching the spending by the state that is affecting the poor and the middle class.

Bob Blumenfield (Democrat) is a legislator working to reinstate the tax deferment scheme. He bemoaned that the most vulnerable residents of the state, its seniors, were bearing the brunt of the budget woes caused by the recession. Blumenfield commented, “They are in a very precarious position. They are the folks on edge. They have a home. They have played by the rules. And at this point, can’t pay their property taxes.”

The proposed bill of Blumenfield (AB-1029) plans to reinstate the postponement programme with a fund of $15 million to support it. It would also put a 5 year ban on mortgage foreclosures stemming from non-payment of property taxes.