The Hill: Arizona’s property tax law abuse must end

Jim Boerner, a disabled veteran in Mesa, Arizona, recently landed in the headlines after losing his home over $236 in unpaid property taxes. When Jim tried to pay his tax debt, he was given wrong information and therefore failed to save his home from the auction block. An investor bought the property for $4,400 and offered to sell it to him for more than $26,000 or he would face eviction.

While Jim’s situation was horrifying, the media coverage and public scrutiny prompted the county to pledge to save his home.

Unfortunately, as Christina Martin explains, other Arizonans aren’t so lucky.

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In 13 states, it’s legal for governments to steal your home equity

Uri Rafaeli’s story is heartbreaking to read: Uri is a retired 83-year-old Michigan engineer, and in 2014 he accidentally underpaid, by $8.41, the property taxes on a home he rented out. But instead of notifying him of the issue and helping him, his county government seized the home and sold it at auction for $24,500. The county then kept all the proceeds—leaving Rafaeli with nothing.

All for an 8 buck mistake.

That may sound like an extreme and unusual case. But Angela Erickson explains that this type of tax forfeiture abuse, called home equity theft, is completely legal in 13 states.

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Issues and Insights: Why do we still celebrate Constitution Day?

We live in seemingly divisive times. Politicians are at each other’s throats. Talking heads on the network news explain to us all the reasons we should hate and mistrust each other. Confidence in public institutions is at an all-time low. There seems to be nothing but bad news.

Then we notice an oft-neglected holiday on our calendars: Constitution Day. As Timothy Snowball explains in his op-ed that ran in papers across the country, we should celebrate the history of the Constitution and the role it still serves in the lives of all Americans.

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