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sagillis1154 · Oct 18, 2012, 02:17 PM

Hi, My husband and I purchased a property (Contract for Deed) in Indiana in November of 2010. Beings that we had never had a Contract for deed we did not understand "Fully" about claiming it on our tax return. When I had contacted the Harrison County Treasurer's Office to verify what are property taxes were (We were being sent a bill by the company who we have the contract with) they advised that we needed to have the Contract for Deed recorded. When I went to the Assessor's office and spoke with the Recorder, She advised that the person we have the Contract for Deed with had been claiming the Homestead rebate on our property since we moved in. She also was claiming she was living here! My question is this.. Is this legal? And would we be able to Amend our prior year tax return so we could in fact claim the Homestead rebate? Thank you

AK lawyer · Oct 18, 2012, 03:48 PM

She also was claiming she was living here! My question is this.. Is this legal?

Of course not. Looks like a fraudulent tax return to me. It would be up to the county to bring charges against, &/or sue the owner. By the way, it's surprising that you do a tax return. In my experience, real property tax is collected by a bill sent to the property owner, based upon the assessed value and the mil rate.

And would we be able to Amend our prior year tax return so we could in fact claim the Homestead rebate?

I doubt it. In most all places that I know of, if you don't appeal a tax bill in a timely manner, you are out of luck. Similarly, if you failed to make the homestead claim on time, similarly it's too late. The reason is that the county has already spent that revenue. Where would they get the money to pay you back?

sagillis1154 · Oct 18, 2012, 04:02 PM

Thank you very much, I thought it would be a fraudulent tax return as well, But wasn't sure because she was "Legally" the owner of the property, Hence being able to claim the Homestead Rebate. But in order to claim it, You have to be living there, is that correct?

AK lawyer · Oct 18, 2012, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by sagillis1154

... But in order to claim it, You have to be living there, is that correct?

Actually, I can only assume so. You would have to look at the Indiana statute creating the homestead exemption, and perhaps the local ordinances. Check with the county treasurer &/or assessor.

But, in any event, you wrote that "She also was claiming she was living here!". That is clearly false.