Montgomery County crunches down on property tax credits

Montgomery County officials are going after homeowners who wrongly received state and county property tax credits. About 1,956 homeowners received the tax credits worth slightly less than $700, and county officials are estimating they could collect as much as $5.4 million for the credits, incorrectly given out between 2009 and 2012. County officials have collected about $134,000 from 216 accounts and expect to bill about 900 more in the coming months. Montgomery County has a 68.8 percent homeownership rate, which equals slightly more than 264,000 homes, according to census data. The property tax credits are given only to homeowners who live in their house; those who rent out their houses do not qualify. Rob Hagedoorn, the division chief of treasury in the county's Department of Finance, said in most cases it's not homeowners maliciously taking the tax credit; rather it's that homes are inaccurately classified in county records. Sign Up for the Daily E-dition newsletter! "In some cases, people might not have even known about it," he said. To find the discrepancies, the department compared rentals listed online and what each home was classified under in the county tax code. The $5 million in potential revenue will be put back into county funds. The county is currently facing a $134 million budget hole for fiscal 2014. In the housing crash of 2008, many homeowners turned to renting their houses because they couldn't sell and didn't go through the proper channels to acquire a license to rent, which would automatically change the tax classification of a home, Hagedoorn said. He said the problem possibly also occurred because up until December, homeowners did not have to apply for the credit. Last year, county officials realized they might be losing money and created a unit to double check which homes were getting the credit and which homes should not be. But the process has now changed: Residents must apply to receive the credit, meaning potentially fewer discrepancies in the future. The unit is scheduled to report its findings to a County Council committee on Monday. This is the first time the numbers have been documented. Council President Nancy Navarro, D-Eastern County, said she is interested to hear the unit's take on how the process has been going, and whether it's had an effect on county taxes. "Obviously, a lot of these things have to do with trying to look very deeply in what's going on," she said, referring to county officials going through minute details in records to find potential sources of revenue. "It's very important, for me, to hear from the administration what their take on this is."

How to Approach Private Lending

1. Find a Lender /Borrower
Private lending has experienced an explosion of growth due to many of today's economic factors.

Borrowers: Banks and commercial lending houses have tightened requirements and are declining normally acceptable risk loans. Borrowing money from someone you know makes a lot of sense!

Potential Lenders: These are people that have established themselves and are in a position to loan money. They also may find that the interest rates they are being offered by banks in the form of CD's and other investment vehicles too low. Usually this is someone you know and wants to see you succeed.

2. Agree on Loan Terms
Pick and agree on the loan terms you will use. Standard terms include:
• Loan amount
• Interest rate
• Term
• Repayment type
• Repayment frequency
Interest rates vary, so use our Resource Center to help you choose. You and your lender should discuss the alternatives that you each have and agree on the rate that provides a win-win situation for you both.
3. Create Formal Documents
Approach your lending relationship in a professional manner. Introduce a neutral "third party" that can help eliminate the emotions from the transaction.

You will need a promissory note to document the loan.

The Agreement Builder™ will guide you through the process of creating a professional Promissory Note. You input the amount of the loan, interest rate, repayment terms (months/years), due dates and any special conditions and The Agreement Builder™ creates a legally binding promissory note.
4. Set up a Repayment Plan
One2One's Agreement Builder™ generates a list of due dates and payment amounts ($) that make up your repayment schedule for your loan agreement.

The Borrower must remember to send a check in advance of each due date. There is usually no "payment book" or monthly invoice that is created by the Lender. You can also have an accountant or private lending company service your loan.

Remove the on-going, potentially emotional hassel: have One2One Lending send e-mail payment reminders to the Borrower on behalf of the Lender. Stick to your loan agreement!

How to get a friend or family member to pay you back

Many people have loaned money to friends or family members. Chances are, they haven’t paid you according to your understanding. If you are lucky, you used a company such as One2One Lending to help you get your agreement in writing in the form of a promissory note. If you have a family member or friend who won’t pay you back whether or not you have created a promissory note, here are some ideas for how to get your payments back on track.

Create an understanding of where your loan stands now. Show exactly how much the borrower can afford to pay. This will let the (you) know that they are realistic and want to make the payments and when you should to expect them.

Talk to them about your interest in accepting payments. Sit down with the friend or family member and put an agreement in writing that they will pay you back in a set number of payments at specified times. This way, you’re adding structure to the agreement, and you’ll at least be getting something back. You also will not feel that it is wrong to nagging them about payment deadlines that have been agreed upon.

Be Persistent. If you’re starting to think that they will never have the money to repay you, and then get something else out of it. Think of it as security for the loan – something of equal value. This is a great way to let them off the hook for the money, but still receive some value for your efforts.

Give the money to them by forgiving the loan. If never getting the money back isn’t going to ruin your relationship, then just gift the money to them. You’ll feel good about it, the thoughts will be out of your head, and you can move on. If you’re not in a financial situation to give the money away without the expectation of getting it back, then you probably should not have loaned the money to them in the first place.

Loans between family members can ultimately sour a relationship and many families don’t talk to each other because of loans gone bad. Make sure that if you are ever moving ahead to help a friend or family member – get it is writing. With the help of on line services like One2One Lending it is not intimidating.

Promissory Note Forms: Advantages For Business Owners

Most people have the need of a promissory note form at some point during their business or personal dealings. For example, you might sell a painting from you estate. If you lend money to a family member it is important that you have an agreement that covers all the important points upon which you and the other party have agree. These and many other types of common documents need to have standardized wording. Here are a few of the reasons why getting your documents prepared and printed online with One2One Lending makes good sense.
Small business owners use many promissory note documents in their transactions. Some online forms that are available are related to a particular type of business. If you use a standard form that has the entire promissory note wording, your business will be perceived as responsible and professional. Novices who use hand-written or improperly prepared documents may find that they didn’t cover all the necessary terms in preparing the forms.
A document prepared by an attorney will have the required wording and include all the necessary components. If the document is technically correct, you are less likely to get into trouble with your promissory note later on. If you have a promissory note from One2One Lending and are still uncertain, take the prepared form to an attorney and ask for a review. This method will still save you money, as it requires less attorney time to review.
Even the simplest form prepared by an attorney can be very expensive. Attorneys typically charge by the hour and bill in fifteen minute segments. So a form that takes only a couple minutes to locate and print may end up costing you significant money. Using online forms also saves you time, since you don’t have to go to the attorney’s office, set up an appointment and return a second time to pick up the completed documents.
When you use online services, it’s easier than explaining to an attorney what it is you want prepared. Online documents allow you to receive a finished product that fits your exact circumstances. With online forms, you answer a few questions, review the completed document online and print the copy for your use.
The forms are completed seamlessly online so that the printed product appears to be custom prepared with your information included. The document looks professional. You won’t have to use a pre-printed form and fill in blanks or cross out sections that don’t apply.
Online promissory note forms make a lot of sense in many situations. The document you receive will have all the needed promissory note terms so that it is precise. It takes only moments to have a document that is specific to your own needs.

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Articles written by experts to help guide the personal lending relationship.