Another Sad Story About Someone Losing Their House

I just found out about this yesterday. Another neighbor in the area has lost their home - not their house, not their property - but their home! It's always so sad to hear stories like this because I know that people in this area have lived in their houses for years! Unfortunately in this case the cost of the property taxes was the culprit! Mind you, the property taxes in this area are very high and what makes it worse is that there are 2 property tax bills that are due each year! Someone told me that in Philadelphia there is only one property tax bill.

The first property tax bill due in April is the smaller of the two. The second property tax bill is due in September and is more than twice the amount of the first bill! When the property taxes are paid as part of the mortgage bill that makes things a little bit easier but not everyone has that type of mortgage.

I do not know the particulars of this neighbor's situation so I don't know what their financial status was (or is) but I do know a little about this property tax thing. On the property tax bill itself it says that the property taxes have to be paid by the end of the year or their will be a lien put on the property. And of course if that lien isn't paid then the property can be sold for the property tax amount owed. Now here is where I get a little foggy.......Does that mean that whatever the house sells for the property tax bill is paid but what happens to the amount that the house sold for that is more than the tax bill itself? Does that extra amount go to the property owner or does it go to property tax people? Is the house being sold for its fair market value or for the amount of the property tax owed only?

I've seen a lot of ads and literature about how their are sales of properties for the amount of back taxes owed so does that mean that they are selling the properties for just the amount of the property taxes owed?

It may seem like a very good opportunity for the real estate investor but it is not a very pleasant experience for the people that are losing their homes.

By the way from what I have heard the people that lost their home are temporarily living in a house a few blocks away. As a matter of fact from what I have been told their property has already been sold!

Robbery Attempt At The PathMark in the Cedarbrook Mall

I heard about this on my way home from shopping. A man tried to rob an armoured car guard with pepper spray. He sprayed it in the gurard's face and the guard turned around and shot the robber multiple times. The robber managed to get away but he collapsed a short time later and that was when he was found by the police. He is currently in the hospital.

Now this happened today around 1 pm and I didn't hear it on the news until about 4pm. I heard it on KYW News Radio. So by the time the local TV news comes on there should be more information about it.

Comcast versus Direct TV?

Just came across one of my old posts:

Well I can't comment on the cable modem thing but its interesting that you mention the cable/dish thing. Seems Comcast and DishTV are trying to outprice each other. Guy came to my door from Comcast saying that he was talking to all the dish owners about getting cable because Comcast has this new deal where they combine phone/internet/cable services for something like $99.


The dish TV provides more channels and the times that it has been un-operative was during bad rainy weather or some really dark cloud cover. It's only happened a few times a year. I will say this though and its a matter of taste but the Direct TV's weather channel doesn't do the local weather as thoroughly as Comcast's TWC (must be a different version). Another pet peeve is that you don't get the local cable channel that has all the area announcements - I think its called the public access stations. If I could I would have them both but if I had to choose it would be the directTV.

It would be nice to have them both and I do have a neighbor that does have them both.