The celebration by Gov. Maura Healey and state Sen. Jo Comerford for reprimanding municipalities against controverting the U.S. Constitution by stealing equity in property tax seizures is like commending a thief for agreeing to stop stealing, but not requiring the stolen goods to be returned. It’s a give-away to the thieves, and discourages homeowners from seeking restitution.

The Supreme Court ruled on this a year ago in Tyler v. Hennepin: The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but not one dime more. What Healey’s budget attachment does is limit recovery of equity theft by municipalities to one year from the time of taking. This means all of the people ripped off by municipalities by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars will not get restitution; this is truly egregious. Fraud is fraud, and has no statute of limitations. People whose equity was stolen more than a year ago should file suit anyway, for improper taking against the municipalities, and complicity with fraud against Healey. And seek damages.

Our municipalities are insured against these kinds of issues, so start with an insurance claim, and know that it will be denied three times before the fourth claim triggers an investigation. It’s critical to find out exactly where that stolen equity ended up. There is no place for complicity for high crimes against our federal constitution. The people need restitution.

Rorie Woods

Hadley