City threatens blind woman over...?!

[_____V_____]

November 18, 2008


ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — A 74-year-old blind woman was shocked when her daughter found a letter from the city saying a lien would be placed on her home unless she paid an overdue water bill.

The amount? 1 cent.

Eileen Wilbur told The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro the letter sent her blood pressure soaring, and pointed out that stamps cost 42 cents.

City Collector Debora Marcoccio said the letter was among 2,000 sent out. A computer automatically prints letters for accounts with an overdue balance, and they are not reviewed by staff before being mailed, she said.

The letter warned of a lien and a $48 penalty if the overdue bill is not paid by Dec. 10. The charge was from the previous fiscal year, which ran from July 2007 to July 2008.

"My question is, how come it wasn't paid when the (original) bills went out?" Marcoccio said.

Wilbur's daughter, Rose Brederson, who discovered the bill in her mother's mail, called the situation "ridiculous." But she said her mother, who has lived in the home since 1959, would likely end up paying the penny.



{Posted the very next day}



ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — A 74-year-old blind woman's 1 cent debt to a Massachusetts city has been settled.

People from across the country called Attleboro City Hall on Tuesday offering to pay the 1 cent balance owed by Eileen Wilbur for an overdue water and sewer bill.

Antonio Viveiros, a former city councilor who does not know Wilbur, wrote a check for one penny. He says he was "irked" by the fact that the federal government can spend billions for bailouts, yet a senior citizen was threatened with a lien on her home over 1 cent.

Wilbur's daughter first noticed the letter that warned of a lien and a $48 penalty if the overdue bill was not paid by Dec. 10.

Mayor Kevin Dumas says the whole situation was blown out of proportion.

[neverending]

This is like when my bank charges me a $25 overdraft fee for being overdrawn by 25 cents....

[Freak]

This goes to show that big business will do anything to get a penny from you.I hate banks.I have a bank account but only to cash my paychecks.Other than that I never use them.

[missmacabre]

We've recieved quite a few water bills for 1 cent before and we have never payed them. It's stupid that they mail us a bill like that when the cost of a stamp is 24-49 cents more than what we owe. Whatever, we're slowly making them lose money which is fun.

[ferretchucker]

That's pretty silly, but I suppose, as they said the machines print it out and they're not reviewed. After all, that would take a lot of staff.

I don't see why the fact that she's blind matters? Yeh, she's blind. I'm pretty sure that being blind and having water aren't really connected, so why does that need to be in there. I hate when people go for the sympathy vote.

[neverending]

You could still program your system to not send out bills for less than X amount.

[ferretchucker]

True. But debt is debt, no matter how small or insignificant the amount. If they did that to everyone it would build up to a large amount of money that they're out of pocket.

[neverending]

Who said they should forgive it?

They're LOSING money sending out bills for one cent. If you can't see the advantage to waiting till a bill is large enough to be profitable by collecting it, you're not as intelligent as some here give you credit for.

[ferretchucker]

Fair enough.

And no need to try to make this personal.

[Elvis_Christ]

Originally Posted by neverending

This is like when my bank charges me a $25 overdraft fee for being overdrawn by 25 cents....

I hear that dude. Thats happened to me a couple of times :mad: