in which it pays to be pushy

[mamajoan]

Loyal readers of this LJ may recall that about a month ago I discovered that I have been paying all the property tax on my building, despite the fact that there are two condo units in the building and I only own one of them and thus should only be paying half the taxes.

Well, my mortgage company said it would take them 10-15 business days to investigate, and today was the 17th business day, so I gave a call. Or six.

Mortgage Rep #1 (MR1) told me that Mortgage Tax Person #1 (MT1) called the city tax people today for the third-ish time and left a message, not having received any replies to the last few messages.

So I called the city tax assessor's office. Assessor Rep #1 (AR1) said that condo tax stuff is handled by the treasurer's office, so he transferred me to Treasurer Rep #1 (TR1) who type-type-typed in her computer and said that she shows our building still being assessed as a two-family, not a condo, so the taxes are handled by the assessor, so she transferred me back.

Assessor Rep #2 (AR2) said that we will be officially considered condos on July 1st (beginning of the city's fiscal year) and at that point we'll start receiving two separate tax bills. Yes, I knew that already. My question is, how can I explain this to my mortgage company, and get them the info that they need so I don't have to wait till July for them to get a clue? AR2 says oh, well, they would need to talk to the treasurer's office, I'll transfer you.

Back I go to TR1, who is annoyed that I'm back, because she thinks my question is "when will the city consider us condos?", which she can't answer. I explain that AR2 has already answered that, but my real question is how to obtain a clue for my mortgage company. I explain that MT1 claims to be calling and calling and getting no response. I tell her the name of my mortgage company (very large national company you have heard of) and she says, well heck, we talk to someone from there pretty much every day. Hmmmm.

Okay, say I to TR1, let's suppose that MT1 has been calling the wrong number all along. Which number SHOULD he call, to get someone who will say "yes, it is condos, but we don't officially consider it such yet"? TR1 says that if MT1 called her, she would only be able to say "well, in the computer it's a two-family." But if MT1 called AR2 in the assessor's office they would be able to say "it's condos but not yet."

So I call the mortgage company back. Mortgage Rep #2 (MR2) reads off the phone number that they have for the tax people, which is the correct number but without the extension. (To call any city department in Somerville you have to call the main number and then enter an extension.) I give him the extension and he enters it into the computer for MT1. I explain about the July thing. He says that once they get "the correct amount," they'll adjust my payments. I explain that the correct amount between now and July is half of the amount they currently think it is. He seems unconvinced, but says he will leave a note in the system, and hopefully MT1 will try the call again tomorrow and get some actual results.

So, I'm hopeful. I'm a bit annoyed that I have to do so much pushing (and hell, I got the correct extension off the Somerville website, and you'd think that if I could do it, MT1 could have done it too), but on the plus side, all the people I spoke to were helpful and pleasant (although TR1 did give me a bit of attitude, but it was mild). I'll give it a few more business days and then think about calling again.

In related news, Brian ran the numbers through his spreadsheet again and came out with him owing me $350ish. We agreed that he would pay me that now and we'll sort out any future tax issues when/if they arise.

In other news, that scratchy painful sensation in my throat is certainly not the sore throat that heralds the onset of illness. I am most definitely not coming down with a cold a mere three days before my mom leaves the country for a 10-day vacation, and a mere six days before my birthday. Goodness, no.

*headdesk*

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Yiii.

I'm ... so glad I'm young.

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

You'll probably have to keep on pushing - your mortgage company has no incentive to follow-through, because there's no bottom-line profit for them. It's terrible, too, but that's the kind of thing I've run into over and over again. If *you* everowe THEM extra money, they'll be on your tail every day of the week, but the reverse, sadly, isn't true.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know that's true. It just seems to me that, the issue is THEY are paying more taxes than they need to -- but then I think about it some more and realize that I'm really paying it, it's just going through them, so what do they care?

A previous rep that I spoke to assured me categorically that this will be resolved before my April payment comes due. Somehow, it's not lookin' that way, pal. But I'm sure as hell going to be reminding them they said that, repeatedly if necessary....

[maggiesox.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. Just READING that gave me a headache. My sympathies.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

Take some megadoses of vitamin C, (if you're not already.) I've discovered that if I have a sore/scratchy throat and I pile on the vitamin C, it doesn't usually develop into a full-fledged cold. Echinacea might help too.

Allergies, though, are another thing entirely (achoo!)