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I received a letter this morning and I would like to alert the residents of Brandon of a definite scam which is going around and will affect them if they receive the letter.  
 
The letter reads as follows:  
 
Dear Property Owner,  
 
You owe the City of Brandon for your property taxes.  
 
If you do not pay them by October 20, 2017 the City of Brandon will sell your house.  
 
1st & 2nd Mortgages can help you out of this situation and lend you the money you need to pay back your property taxes.  
 
Please give us a call toll free at 1 866 405 1228  
 
 
 
This letter arrived on a company letterhead and comes with contact phone numbers, an email address and a website for the company First & Second Mortgages . I have contacted the city of Brandon in person and they advised me that this is not the case and this is, in fact, a scam. Please be cautious when receiving mail from unknown sources and verify all information as it comes to you. A picture of this letter has been added to this thread.  
 
(This post has been strictly reviewed by the writer, and it conforms with the ebrandon terms of service. Its states facts relevant to the topic at hand, mentions no names and does not slander other individuals. Questions, comments, queries, concerns or editing suggestions should be made to the writer. Have a good day)  
 
Edited by IMO, 2017-04-10 13:29:59

Any notice of taxes would come from the city, not a private company. Odd, as this seems like a legitimate (though not necessarily reputable) buisness, that has its scope beyond Brandon (across Canada and USA). On another note - the phone scam claiming they are from Canada Revenue Service (service???) is going around again. Be warned.

I'm confused on how this is a scam?  
The tax list of properties that are in arrears are available online as well as addresses of those properties as well. These companies such as First/Second Mortgage (which appears online, and seems like a company that is in business of giving high interest loans to people that are in arrears), look on all these tax lists then send them to the property owners.  
 
So if your home is not in tax arrears, then you would not call them for a loan. Most people should know by now if they are in arrears as the city has already started the process of warning people to pay or the homes will go for sale in Oct. And yes if property taxes are more than two years in arrears, they do have a tax sale every october.  
 
If you get a letter like this definitely check with the city of brandon to see if you are in arrears, (which you should already know). All letters that are regarding the specifics of your tax arrears will come from City of Brandon. But if you are in arrears and on the tax "list", you may get offers from financial places to help, and you may get people pulling up and checking out your property in hopes of getting it on tax auction day.  
 
Its possible that if you are not on the arrears list, that they sent it by accident to a wrong address when looking up the roll numbers online.  
 
This is basically a loan company that lures in people desperate to keep their homes. And most people that receive this letter ARE on the arrears list. Its the equivalent of a bank sending you out pre approved credit cards, they are just trying to get your business.  
 
 
A couple years ago, a friend of mine WAS on the tax arrear list, and they received this letter then. As well as received MANY people walking around her property, looking in her windows, in her backyard, checking it out in hopes of purchasing the home for cheap at the auction. All these properties are listed online. And some vultures don't care about the family that may be in hard times and about to lose their home. Luckily she got it paid, and has been a priority to pay since.  
Im not sure why anybody would quickly go get a loan to pay something without checking to see if they actually do owe it.  
Just my opinion.

First off that letter looks like it was made by a 12 year old. Doesn't look professional in the least. I would hope most people would know if they owe back taxes or not.  
 
Cheezies: For a house to end up on the auction block you have to be in arrears for 3 years. So if your friend couldn't sort their affairs out in 3 years then too bad so sad. Also people that are poor at managing their finances usually also have horrible credit so its not just as easy as going to the bank and getting money.

The same part is "If you do not pay them by October 20, 2017 the City of Brandon will sell your house."  
 
Yes, properties in arrears appears on the City of Brandon web site. It does NOT list that the property is so far in arrears that it will be sold by the city by a certain date. Change that line to something like "If you do not pay them soon enough, your house could be sold by the city" (maybe made a little more professional than I have it), and it would be fine - assuming the house in question is in arrears. As it is, they are using scare tactics, so you will react without thinking it through.

TWENTY said "First off that letter looks like it was made by a 12 year old. Doesn't look professional in the least. I would hope most people would know if they owe back taxes or not.     Cheezies: For a house to end up on the auction block you have to be in arrears for 3 years. So if your friend couldn't sort their affairs out in 3 years then too bad so sad. Also people that are poor at managing their finances usually also have horrible credit so its not just as easy as going to the bank and getting money. "

It ends up being the 3rd Year. So for people in tax arrears on the list right now, they owe taxes for 2015 and 2016 ( during all this 2017 will come out as well during at end of May. If you don't pay for two years, you get put on the list in February of next year (before the 3rd late year).  
 
And sometimes it takes a while for someone to get back on their feet, especially when you get so far behind. But she did.  
And until that actual sale, the property still belongs to those people in it. It's not public property till then and no one should go around looking in these property windows and wandering their back yard.

I never said its okay for people to go around peering in windows. That is against the law and the police should be called.

As noted above, the city would post this arrears notice and contact you direct.  
 
 
Toss it if it ever begins with "Dear Customer" or Dear _____ User, etc.  
Must address you by your first and last name or something identifying you.  
 
Further googling shows it's an ad:  
 
Home Owners Equity Loans Available! Bad Credit OK! Richard - 1 866 405 1228  
 
Edited by No Comment, 2017-04-10 17:48:54