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Disabled Man Loses Home Because He Didn't Pay $175 Tax Bill

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A disabled homeowner will soon be on the street because he couldn't pay $175 in property taxes. Officials in Boulder County say there's nothing to be done now that the property has been sold to an investor.

The Boulder County Treasurer's Office told CBS4 they sent Bob McHugh warning letters, posted notices on his house and even knocked on his door. But they never heard from him.

McHugh told CBS4's Melissa Garcia he never thought they would actually sell his house.

"They told me not to worry, so I didn't," said McHugh. "And then they sold my house."

McHugh paid $6,000 for his mobile home and has lived there for nine years. But when he came down with a rapidly progressing form of multiple sclerosis, he said he couldn't pay his property taxes.

When delinquent notices started arriving in the mail, his priority was surviving his diagnosis.

Now McHugh has been evicted after his home was sold for the $175 tax lien

"I'm going to run away screaming because it seems like they're trying to kill me. I swear. This is ridiculous. This is awful. This is not the wild west. What are these fools doing?" said McHugh.

$175 TAX LEIN
(credit: CBS)

He said the new property owner refuses to negotiate or sell it back to him.

"If taxes are delinquent, the taxes go to sale and somebody can hold the lien on those properties," said Boulder County Treasurer Paul Weissmann.

Weissmann said McHugh is one of four homeowners who have lost their homes this year from failure to pay property taxes. Another three homes are at risk.

One man rushed to arrange for payment when CBS4 informed him a buyer had applied for the certificate of ownership on the tax lien for his home.

$175 TAX LEIN
Bob McHugh (credit: CBS)

"I don't know exactly why it's happening. I have some theories. One is, there's a whole lot of people who make their living doing those seminars on getting rich on tax lien sales," said Weissmann.

Mobile home owners having trouble paying their property taxes can set up a payment plan with the county.

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