I look for dead people
At the end of the last post I decided to check in to see if the person at 32 P St NE receiving the Senior Citizen Tax Relief was alive. Because, well I found a person in my general vicinity who was also receiving the tax benefit but was sadly dead. Well Ms.Berrin is dead according to the Social Security Index. I'm sure it is the same woman because they had the same zip code and really, how common is the name Berrin?So for kicks, or something to do while waiting for the Super Tuesday results, I checked a random Truxton block for dead people who own houses, and get the really sweet Senior Citizen Tax Relief. Well, let's just say it doesn't help to have a common name. For one block I found three persons receiving the tax relief, but there were several other people with the same name and the last residence at date of death did not match up. One had a different middle initial so that was a no. And I did find a matching name with matching initial of a woman who died in the District of Columbia, but because the zip codes don't match up and because she has a common last name, I won't say she's dead.
While poking around, looking for deceased Truxtonians, I did notice something odd. There were several people not claiming their Homestead Deductions whose listed address is the same as the property address. Why I wonder? Another thing I spotted with the Senior Citizen Tax thing, was one where the person wasn't dead but instead was living in Clinton, MD but getting the tax relief. That seems to be counter of what the relief is for...
Anyway, tomorrow I will send an email to the CFOs office about the definitely dead woman and the possibly dead woman.
Now I wonder if the dead vote?
Labels: taxes
posted by Mari @ 5.2.08
9 Comments:
Personally, I would think the dead vote. After all, they have a need to keep their tax exemptions.
I see great promise for the Zombie/Vampire & Other Dead Persons Coalition. Greater access to blood banks, brains, and most importantly tax relief.
Remember the skeleton in the house on the 500 block of Florida Avenue?
WaPo Link
me too. I have a neighbor who is not claiming the Homestead. She definitely lives in the house. So I wonder whether some of the online records are incorrect. For example, the names of owners are sometimes flagrantly wrong, as if someone were trying to interpret illegible handwriting
With the dead fellow on Florida Ave, he wasn't paying his taxes and well the Social Security office might not have been aware of his death.
The whole point of making the records available is to increase their accuracy so it is good that people are using it for this purpose!
Unfortuntely not that many people know you can even look at this stuff!
Amanda from DCMetrocentric.com
I found five different properties on all of which the owner -- the same person in each case -- was claiming the homestead deduction.
That almost seems wrong.
Dear That Almost Seems Wrong,
I'm amazed some major news org hasn't jumped on this. Seriously, I gave y'all one example, and if you want the 'possibly dead' woman all you have to do is ask. Or I wish the Tax Fraud Office would have at least acknowledged my letter, even with a auto-reply of 'okay we got your email, now go away'.
Of course, are those 5 properties connected? If not then, yeah, that's fraud to me.
You can also search WAPO Obituaries, it goes back for years. I included that info when reporting 2 nearby houses to DC Tax Fraud Hotline back in June '07. DC Tax office has back billed the Real Estate taxes to the dates the folks died. One house, the Sr died in Nov '05, house is being forclosed, but now in probate. Daughter & her 2 teenage kids have caused a lot of problems in the 'hood. They have been squatting for over 2 years and also not paying WASA. WASA has placed lien on house too. Just keep scanning the tax records & WAPO Obits and report it to DC Tax Fraud Hotline by phone or form you can printout and mail in. If valid, DC Tax will take appropriate action.
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