Property tax scare
My property taxes on the condo are due in April and in October. Normally they are paid out of escrow. When I returned from Cape Cod on Sunday (last week), I got quite a fright in the mailbox.
I got a ‘NOTICE’ from ‘ARLINGTON COUNTY’. Nice big letters on the outside of that envelope. It said something about ‘PROPERTY TAXES’ and I started to wig out. When I first went to settlement, my taxes were paid, but somehow my bank forgot to remit the taxes for the October collection and I got a scary notice in the mail. Was I looking at another one? In that situation, I called the settlement attorney to make sure the money had been collected. He confirmed it, and then I called the bank to yell at them and tell them to pay the penalty as well.
Surprisingly, the bank was very efficient and paid the tax bill immediately from escrow account and paid the penalty themselves, as was correct of them to do since it wasn’t my fault they messed up.
This mystery envelope had me worried. I really thought that it was my property taxes. And it was. But on the car. That’s why I made my throwaway comment a few days ago about how they overvalued the vehicle and can buy it from me for that price in cash. My bill luckily is less than $150.00. I can pay that straight out of my checking next month and slap that new sticker on my car. I will then take that deduction on my Federal taxes. Yippee!
So the long and short of it is that I see these notification envelopes and I need to learn not to panic. Not everything that comes in the mail is a crisis. Sometimes it’s good news. (like yet *another* wedding!)
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