KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo County Treasurer Mary Balkema wants the County Board to approve a resolution opposing State legislation that would make it easier for a homeowner to contest foreclosure proceedings.
The bills would permit a homeowner to simply say they were unaware there was a tax problem to be eligible for a court date and to stave off foreclosure.
Balkema says they try and contact a homeowner everyway they can with two dozen peices of registered mail, personal visits and other methods over a 2-year-4-month period after taxes go unpaid before they actually foreclose.
Balkema says the law as stated could be retroactively applied back three years. Litigating those cases she says would be a “nightmare”. She says they have foreclosed hundreds of homes in that period.
But Commissioner Kevin Wordelman says keeping people in their homes seems like a good idea to him. The bills have cleared the State Senate and were sent to the House. The County Board will consider the resolution in two weeks.
