Evening star., 1922-03-11

Many Washington home-owners.
some in the fashionable northwest as
well as in other sections. have discov-
cred within the last few days that
they overlooked paying 1921 real es-
tate taxes and that their property
was about to be sold for taxes
Approximately 100000 worth of
real estate will go on sale Tuesday
morning for non-payment Of 1921
taxes unless the owners pay up in
the meantime.
And if it had not been for the much
abused income tax return the resi-
dences of some of these individuals
would have been put on the auction
block at the District building next
week and sold.
One Washington business man, al
ways prompt in the payment Of taxes.
sat down few days ago to wrestle
with his income tax Naturally, he
was trying to check uI all exemp-
tlons. and real estate taxes Is one of
them. To his surprise. he found his
property tax had not been paid last
May
Inquiry at the District building re-
vealed the fact that his property was
listed in the book with 1900 other
parcels of land which are to be sold
beginning Tuesday. March IA. He i'm
mediately paid the tax and penalty.
avoiding the expense and worry that
would have followed the auction sale
A woman living in the northeast
and owning severa! pieces of property
made the same discovery yesterday
when she began to prepare her in
come tax return. She had been under
the impression she paid her taxes last
May.
Many Forget to Pay.
Chatham NJ. Towers. collector of
taxes, has no way of determining
how many of the 1900 parcels listed
for the auction sale are the homes of
citizens able and willing to pay, but
who have forgotten the matter
While a large percentage of the
property listed is vacant, undeveloped
land, it is safe to assume that the
book also contains many fine resi-
dences and fairly prosperous homes.
If you are in doubt as to whether
your 1921 taxes are paid. reader, do
not rely on the fact that you have
not received a notice from the District
building. Although Collector Towers
mails notices to all delinquents whose
addresses appear on his tax ledgers.
unfortunately the records do not con-
tain a complete list Of addresses of
taxpayers.
The tax ledgers are made up each
year in the assessors Office and con-
tain only the name, lot and square
number. They are then sent to the
collector OF taxes Every time q tax
payer or agent calls for a bill the
clerk asks for his address and writes
it into the book. So. any person who
then failed to pay the tax probably
has received a notice during the past
few months. But IL you did not call
or send for your bill last year the
chances are the collector does not
have your address and the safest
trict building Monday and look at the
unpaid tax list II you are in doubt as
to whether you paid last May
Here IL what VIII Happen.
Here is what will happen If you fail
to pay your 1921 real estate tax before
Tuesday morning:
One of a number Of men who make
a business of attending tax sales may
pay the taxes due on your house, plus
the penalty of l per cent a month
since last June and 80 cents for the
cost Of publishing the tax list. He
will receive from the Commissioners a
tax certificate.
He must hold this certificate for
two years. during Which time you may
redeem your property by paying him
the tax and the penalty that has ac-
cumulated.
At the end Of two years the Com
missioners are required to give the
holder of the certificate a tax deed,
which constitutes a cloud on the title
of the property and will eventually
have to be removed by a settlement
with the man who bought the prop