‘Already behind again’: A Boscawen homeowner narrowly avoided losing her house to unpaid taxes. She expects her plight to continue.

Marilyn Lara stands outside her manufactured house in Boscawen. Lara, 51, lives in a beige house that sits on the first corner of a 50 home community tucked off of Route 3.

Marilyn Lara stands outside her manufactured house in Boscawen. Lara, 51, lives in a beige house that sits on the first corner of a 50 home community tucked off of Route 3. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Marilyn Lara stands outside her manufactured house in Boscawen. Lara, 51, lives in a beige house that sits on the first corner of a 50-home community tucked off of Route 3.

Marilyn Lara stands outside her manufactured house in Boscawen. Lara, 51, lives in a beige house that sits on the first corner of a 50-home community tucked off of Route 3. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

Monitor staff

Published: 12-26-2024 4:29 PM

Marilyn Lara had been there before.

She was homeless when she moved into her manufactured house in Boscawen in 2011. Earlier this year she feared she’d be back out on the street again.

She’d fallen behind on her tax bill and at the end of March and the town took ownership of the property. She had 30 days to pay down the $5,000 she owed or watch her house go to auction. As the eleventh hour approached, she stared down two options: become homeless again or ask her dad for a last-minute Hail Mary. He fronted the money.

“Some of us don’t have the money. It sounds stupid, but you just don’t have it” she said. “I can’t even afford it in the beginning so how would I come up with all that money?”

Lara, 51, lives in a beige house that sits on the first corner of a 50-home community tucked off of Route 3. Large trees shade the property and in the front, a gray temporary fence gives room for her four dogs – Chico, Milo, Uno and Reno – to roam. Most people call her Missey and on a December morning, her sister stopped by to refill air in her tires in the driveway out front.

The house was also the first place Lara called home again after experiencing homelessness for six months  with her then-husband in 2011. The park owners gave them a chance, she said, and sold them the vacant double-wide for just over $2,000 – with a payment plan in place to incrementally take ownership of the home.

She likes that it’s quiet. She took full ownership after a divorce a few years ago. That is, until unpaid taxes meant she almost lost the largest asset she’s owned.

“Everything is so expensive now,” she said. “So if I lost this, I wouldn’t have anywhere else to go.”

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Lara’s story isn’t uncommon in New Hampshire. Many homeowners – the elderly, disabled, or those living on a fixed income – struggle to pay ever-increasing property taxes. If they lose their housing, they often wouldn’t be able to afford an apartment. Median rent for a two-bedroom is about $1,500 a month in Merrimack County. Often, they’re not aware of assistance options to help pay their property tax bills, which burden Granite Staters at the highest rate in the nation.

Government taking of property through the tax deed process has long been spelled out in New Hampshire state law. After three years of unpaid taxes, local municipalities can take ownership of a home or piece of land and resell it to recoup lost revenue, typically at a public auction. Discretion on taking property is left to local municipalities.

This year in Merrimack County, 22 new tax deeds were filed by towns and cities – adding to the 4,000 homes that have been taken in the last decade, according to a Monitor analysis. The properties were located in Boscawen, Danbury, Franklin, Henniker, Hill, Hooksett, New London, Northfield, Pittsfield and Webster.

Properties ranged from an eight-bedroom multi-family home in Pittsfield on nearly 2 acres to another manufactured house in Boscawen 10 minutes from Lara’s where owners owed just over $1,400 for their 835-square-foot single-wide.

Similar to Lara, both owners paid their outstanding bills but little relief is available for homeowners outside of tax credits and exemption programs for the elderly, disabled and veterans. Some state lawmakers are looking to change that, with new legislative proposals filed for 2025.

“They don’t tell you anything, they don’t offer you any help, they don’t do nothing,” Lara said. “This is the date, and that’s it. You either have it or you don’t.”

Lara receives disability pay for her epilepsy, which means her income is fixed but she also qualifies for a tax exemption that lowers her property value, and subsequently her tax bill. Municipalities vote to adopt these exemptions at the city council or Town Meeting level detailing the amount to be forgiven and qualifications.

If Lara lived in Bradford, she would see a $10,000 reduction in her assessed value if she earned less than $25,000 annually. If she lived in Bow, her assessment would be reduced to the state’s minimum – $13,400 – as their adopted policy is an exemption of $143,000 for single homeowners who make less than $38,500.

But she lives in Boscawen, one of 11 towns in Merrimack County, that does not adopt the exemption.

As municipalities will soon adopt new budgets in the new year, leaders anticipate concerns about rising special education costs that will drive budget discussions and tax increases. Last year, after a 30 percent proposed increase to the Pembroke school budget, residents petitioned, and approved a 10 percent budget cut. This year in Kearsarge a similar 16 percent cut to the school budget is proposed by a citizen petition.

For Lara, her struggle to pay her taxes is a cycle of continuous shortcomings. Her house is saved, for now, but her debt remains. She’s spared from interest, repaying her father slowly but new bills keep coming as well.

Candidly, she can admit: the outlook is grim.

“I’m probably going to have the same issue,” she said. “I’m already behind again.”

Michaela Towfighi can be reached at mtowfighi@cmonitor.com. A Monitor series, Seized and Sold, examined New Hampshire’s tax deed process earlier this year. Read the full series here.