{"id":30717,"date":"2023-02-23T15:18:40","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T20:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=30717"},"modified":"2023-02-23T15:19:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T20:19:36","slug":"how-a-massachusetts-town-seized-a-farmers-370k-property-to-cover-a-60k-tax-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2023\/02\/23\/how-a-massachusetts-town-seized-a-farmers-370k-property-to-cover-a-60k-tax-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"How a Massachusetts Town Seized a Farmer’s $370k Property to Cover a $60k Tax Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Alan DiPietro is an alpaca farmer in the town of Bolton, Massachusetts (pop: 5,376). He lives in an RV on the 34-acre property where he keeps his alpacas, and he sells their fleece to make a living.<\/p>\n

DiPietro wasn\u2019t always a farmer. He previously worked as a chief engineer for iRobot, a company that makes autonomous home cleaning devices such as the Roomba vacuum cleaner. He became disenchanted with the bureaucracy and red tape of the corporate world, however, so in 2008 he decided to leave that world behind and begin his alpaca-farming venture.<\/p>\n

The years since then have not been the easiest for DiPietro. In 2014 he suffered a financially-devastating divorce that ultimately led to bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy, he still had some money in a 401(k), and he used it to buy the 34-acre property he now lives and farms on. The home he was living in was foreclosed, however, and he was evicted in 2016. It was then that he moved to the motorhome on the farm.<\/p>\n

In the ensuing years, DiPietro found himself in a protracted legal dispute<\/a> over how he could use his property. He had mowed some fields and had built some wooden fencing and small sheds, but he was later told these actions violated certain state and local environmental regulations.<\/p>\n

As a result of various enforcement actions and lawsuits, DiPietro struggled to use his property in a profitable manner, and his financial situation became dire. He became delinquent on his property taxes in 2016, and 14 percent annual interest began accruing on his unpaid taxes.<\/p>\n

As the years went by, the legal battle intensified and DiPietro\u2019s situation only worsened. By 2021, he owed the town roughly $60,000 in unpaid taxes and other costs. The property value at the time was roughly $370,000, and DiPietro owned it outright.<\/p>\n

A couple of simple solutions to his debt problem likely jump to mind. Couldn\u2019t he just make money with the property some other way or sell part of it to pay his debt? Indeed, he could\u2014if the town would let him. But the town stopped him at every turn. When he applied for a forestry permit to sell trees on his land, for example, the town\u2019s conservation officials asked for it to be denied on account of his alleged environmental violations, and the department in charge of permits complied with this request.<\/p>\n

He was also prohibited by the town from getting a guard dog and from connecting to the internet and electrical grid, and the town would not legally recognize his address. These and other restrictions undermined several potential projects. The town also refused to give him the permits he needed to sell part of his land, and the reason for the refusal was the fact that he had outstanding property tax debt.<\/p>\n

In short, DiPietro was caught in a catch-22. He had to pay the debt to get permission to make money, but he needed money first to pay the debt.<\/p>\n

With the debt remaining unpaid, a land court foreclosed on the property in December 2021, transferring absolute title of the land to the town as payment for the debt. The town has since initiated eviction proceedings to remove DiPietro from the property.<\/p>\n

And what about the $310,000 in equity above and beyond the debt, the equity that rightfully belongs to DiPietro? Oh yeah. The town kept that\u2026which it\u2019s allowed to do under state law.<\/p>\n

Noting the injustice, the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) joined DiPietro in filing a lawsuit<\/a> against the town on January 10, 2023, demanding he get back that portion of the equity which is rightfully his.<\/p>\n