Very surprised that the munipality's treasurer's office would change the address over the phone..I can't change my cellphone features without verifying all kinds of information..Perhaps the it was simply an error, and they changed your tax bill address instead of a person near your lsiting in the tax roles...In any event, one should not be able to make changes to such information without physically appearing at the office, with supporting documentation

Error, identify theft, and adverse possession are what came to my mind. It appears that you live in Ohio, where adverse possession takes 21 years, so skip that.

It's amazing what crooks can get away with due to lax govt office standards. I would agressively follow up on this to make sure you're not the victim of identity or property theft. Because this hasn't (so far) ever been something I personally had to deal with, I can't offer specifics. But, I do a lot of research and reading on real estate fraud, and I kind of recall this is how a particular form of property and/or ID theft or mortgage fraud gets started. It can do serious damage to the unsuspecting homeowner! You need to, as Barney Fife would say, "nip it in the bud!"

Could it just be a renter or somebody that got mad at you and wanting to mess with you?

Road trip!

Take a run out to that address, and see what you see.

Or at least, call the cops or AG's office that covers that address and tell them about it, see if they'll do anything or can help you out. Someone certainly expected to receive the mail at that address, right? Have you looked it up, is it even a valid, occupied address? Can you do a reverse search to find the registered owner of that address?

Towns may have different policies, but I know I was able to change the mailing address for my tax bill with a phone call, no questions asked.

I would get copies of your credit reports, just to be safe.

The heck w/ your personal CREDIT reports.

Do a TITLE SEARCH on that property.

Hmm...might someone want 'proof' he lives at the address of your rental property? (Could show the tax bill addressed to him as 'proof'.)

My brother recently asked me to pick up a copy of his birth certificate for him and I was surprised that they didn't ask me for an ID. They said that any public record is available to anyone. No ID's required.

So basically anyone can get a copy of a birth certificate anywhere and if crooks get their hands on the SS#, it's all downhill from there.

scampi, that is VERY surprising..Not long ago, i needed a copy of my birth certificate, and needed to provide all knids of proof...And to RENEW my NJ license, i needed not only my existing photo license(issued in NJ!!), i needed 3 other forms of ID, such as mortgage statement, utility bill, SS card, and/or passport.. Each piece of ID was given a vlaue, and i think i needed 10 points...

I'd go at once and check your rental property's deed to make sure the property hasn't been "sold" to someone else. This is an easy thing to do and should cost you nothing.

Chances are it is, as somene above posted, just a simple clerical error, but you never know. Changing addresses on tax bills is something that happens as a result of a sale, however, so that's why I'd check.

Good luck!

Molly~

Did you receive all the 1099's for both properties? If not, then unless the local office made the error AFTER sending it, or there is someone else out there who has an uncomfortable amount of your personal information. I'd enroll in some sort of ID theft insurance - if your homeowner's coverage doesn't already.

"receive all the 1099's for both properties?"

Huh? What's that mean? Who receives 1099's for property?

I thought 1099s came from the mortgage company (to show how much interest you paid and taxes--if they escrow for you). If you pay taxes directly, does the city send you a 1099? The towns in my state don't do this.

They come from the mortgage company so that the IRS knows how much deductible interest you have. But I'm saying that if someone else is trying to claim having paid the property tax they might be trying to claim the interest expense too. Point is this might be tax evasion and not necessarily garden-variety identity theft. Of course, that's a long shot.

Since it's tax time, it may help to clarify terms.

As a general rule of thumb....

1099s are used to report income such as interest, dividends, capital gains, gambling winnings, etc. For example, you might receive a 1099 from a property management company reporting rent earned on a rental property you own.

1098s are used to report interest paid such as mortgage interest, student loan interest. Most homeowners with outstanding loans will receive a 1098 from their mortgage company reporting interest and, sometimes, real estate taxes.

^^^
oops, off by a digit. But good point about a 1099 for rental income. In fact that's slighty more plausible.

Hi, all, and thanks for the suggestions. Here's what I have done so far: called the treasurer's office and had the address on the tax bill changed back to my address and sent to me; called the office in the court house where title searches are done and asked the clerk to check the listing for my rental to make sure it was still in my name (it is); received a message from my attorney, who says he has no idea what it could be about; maybe someone has it in for me and wanted me to lose my property by not paying my taxes (have no idea who it could be, but you never know). I really think it is a clerical error, but I will definitely keep an eye on things. I have received the 1098 form from the bank (Mortgage Interest Statement). Thanks again.

I have heard of this happening when people want to take over your property for the cost of taxes...similar to purchasing tax liens. They pay your taxes for an amount of time and then have legal right to foreclose on your property if you do not immediately pay them back. Weird that I have heard of this. Hopefully not an Urban Myth that I'm spreading around. I also know alot about databases and sometimes human error takes over pure programming. If the taxes have not been paid, #1 is not an issue. Thanks for posting this. It's great to learn about all sorts of things in this forum.

Why not look up the new address on google maps where you can get a bird's eye or aerial view of the location to which the tax bill was sent?

Something is definitely fishy here!

susie100 -- Any further developments?

I would definitely check into. Find out who lives at the address it was changed to and see if you recognize the name. In some places, like PA, if someone pays your back taxes they become your landlord and can remove you. They may have been trying to make you default in order to pay up for you. I would seek any kind of help you could. And kudos to you for quickly reacting!