HALIFAX destroyed my mom's life! :( Please help me help her!

Hi, my name is Kate and I'm here to share a cautionary tale and ask for your help.

My Dad died in 1991, leaving my freshly minted 45 year old Mum a widow.

They worked hard during their 24 years of marriage and paid off their home in full.

Despite doing her best, my Mum needed assistance after 22 years of going it alone so in 2013 she applied for- and received - property tax deferral from the Halifax Regional Municipality. Great program for senior citizens with incomes under a certain tax bracket.

In order to qualify for this exemption, you must be a senior citizen, have your home paid off and have no liens against it. Check, check and check!

As time went on and money continued to become harder to come by, my Mum consolidated her debt and obtained a Personal Line of Credit (PLC) from the bank using her home as collateral.

Unbeknownst to her, a PLC on a home is considered a mortgage (to the city) so the city started taxing her property again.

And HERE is where the horror begins...

From 2015 until 2022 the city was taxing this property

AND DID NOT ALERT THE OCCUPANT/PROPERTY OWNER (HER) OF THIS.

FOR SEVEN YEARS this address was being taxed and not ONCE did the city try to contact her.

NOT.

ONE.

TIME.

She has never had internet/email so they would not have had an email address on file.

There may have been a phone number on file but she finally had to let her land line go because of finances.

But she DID have an address (THE EXACT ADDRESS THEY WERE TAXING, REMEMBER?) and her mailbox is one of those annoyingly inconvenient ones Canada Post put in! Lock and key! NO chance her mail was tampered with. None.

For SEVEN years,

this debt piled up,

month after month,

quarter after quarter,

year after year...

after year...

after year...

after YEAR...

AFTER YEAR...

AFTER YEAR!!!!

NOT ONE TIME did the City of Halifax make ANY attempt to contact her in regards to her ever-growing arrears. Not once. IN SEVEN YEARS. It is simply mind boggling.

Then, in the spring of 2022, my Mum received a notice in the MAIL from a COLLECTION AGENCY to let her know that she owed $21,600 in unpaid property taxes.

It also said she had until THE END OF THE WEEK to pay or...

her property would be PUT UP FOR TAX SALE !!!

The emotional and mental strain put on my 76 year old Mum during the minutes, hours and days after receiving a letter like that, a letter that is essentially kicking her out of her house unless she comes up with over twenty thousand dollars, was immeasurable.

What she did, in the end, was cash out $50,000 worth of life insurance she wanted my sister and I to have as 'clean up money' after she dies.

The cash value was just under $23,000.

I don't really care that that money won't be available to us however, I DO care that the ramifications of this VERY unfortunate series of (AVOIDABLE) events have now escalated her situation in poverty to an unmanageable level.

The money it took to save her from losing her house (she lost her car months after due to all of this unraveling) was viewed by the CRA as income, of course, so now she's unable to pay her "income" taxes.

The ripple effect has quickly turned into a tsunami.

Due to the government calculating her new 'income', she has lost ALL of the benefits that were keeping her (barely) afloat.

Every single possible option to help her within the system has now been completely exhausted. This fundraiser is the last shot.

I absolutely hate to ask anyone for monetary help but we are now well past the point where she is deciding between heat or food, between medicine or taxes. :(

The amount is set at $50,000 to help keep her in food, heat, prescriptions and pay her property and income taxes so that she may have a couple of years of not having to worry SO MUCH about EVERYTHING. And of course, to keep her in her house.

She has SO many friends who have NO IDEA she is in this position and if given the chance, would sincerely want an opportunity to help her if they knew. I hope this finds those folks.

I would be thrilled to raise it to $100,000 if it reaches 50K so that she can make some LONG overdue repairs to her home of 56 years. But for now, let's just focus on keeping this dear heart's head above the water.

I truly believe in the cumulative effect.

EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO HER.

If anyone from HRM sees this and would like to do a kindness and exempt her from her property taxes in the future, go right ahead! It's the least you could do for this grave injustice and SIMPLE lack of due diligence YOU have caused here.

If any lawyer's firms think we have a case and wish to work it pro-bono, please reach out.

And please, if you or any senior you know in the Halifax Regional Municipality is having their property taxes deferred, MAKE SURE THEY ACTUALLY ARE!!

Apparently the city is under no obligation to notify you if they are taxing your property.

Thank you so very much for your time and consideration.

XO

Kate

(I am based in Hamilton and have set this fundraiser for here seeing as how my Mum doesn't have the tools to manage a go-fund-me account and she is unfortunately deeply embarrassed by her situation.)

I have NOT told her I am doing this fundraiser for her.

She does not understand that these days, people UNDERSTAND and have great empathy and compassion for someone in her situation. Asking for monetary help is not as shameful as it was when she was growing up. She comes from GIVERS, not receivers.

It will be so much easier for her to take any offerings if they are in her account already.

Trust me, I am her daughter of almost 52 years.

This is the way. ;)