Everything is great until it's not. Finding out that half of your home was sold at a county tax foreclosure sale two years prior constitutes "not great". That's exactly what happened to a woman who's home straddles the border of New York and Connecticut. When the owner contacted the town about putting in a shed, she learned that half of her home and part of her lot were sold to a neighbor in 2010. Roseanne Di Guilio refinanced her mortgage in 2004 and JPMorgan Chase put New York tax money into an escrow account but never paid the bill and later sold it to the loan-service firm Seterus Inc. The New York property taxes of roughly $200 per year went unpaid from 2004 to 2010, leading to foreclosure.
The New York portion of the property, which is 0.2 acre, includes a hillside as well as her living room, kitchen and sun porch. Part of her bathroom is in New York. The other half is in Connecticut. The new owner remained silent about the purchase, letting Di Guilio keep paying the homeowners policy. She also unknowingly paid for debris removal on the NY side after trees came down in storm, paid contractors to mow the lawn, clean the gutters and blow the leaves off what was actually her neighbor's property.
It's not clear how the owner missed foreclosure notices, but:
Di Guilio said she never saw the notice posted on the tree nor did she receive any notice in the mail from Putnam County alerting her of her tax delinquency. Her house has two addresses. In New York, it's 46 Hudson Drive, Brewster, but that mailbox is sealed. She gets her mail at 62 Hudson Drive, New Fairfield, Connecticut.
Under state law, the municipality seeking to foreclose must notify the property owner by mail, and if that fails, make an inquiry of the postmaster for an alternative address, said Di Guilio's attorney, Michael Caruso. The notice also must be published in a local newspaper and posted in a public place, such as the county clerk's office.
Apparently, her neighbor saw the notices and now owns about half the home.
Di Guilio is seeking to overturn the foreclosure in a case before state Supreme Court Justice Victor Grossman in Carmel. But the resolution is far from certain because she didn't bring the action within the two-year statute of limitations. Settlement talks have commenced. Di Guilio said she was shocked by her neighbor's initial demand of $150,000. Di Guilio said it's down to $35,000. Jacob's attorney said the payment would be made by the mortgage company.
And that neighbor - Alethea Jacob appears to be a spiritual life coach - from her website:
Alethea offers personal spiritual life coaching sessions as well as readings using a variety of modalities, including palmistry, angel and tarot card readings, clairvoyance, mediumship, picture and aura readings, animal readings, energy balancing, healings and soul clearings. Alethea has international experience, studying, teaching and working in Europe, Canada and South America. Alethea believes the road to wellness is a path with many branches, and the key to restoring balance and harmony is addressing the needs of the entire person - body, mind and spirit.
Another example demonstrating that truth is often crazier than fiction. NY Post article
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