Dealing With County Officials

When the deal Tax Delinquent Properties will constantly have to work with counties and their employees and officials on an ongoing basis.

Here are a few things to consider when dealing with county officials.

1 County officials are elected and therefore the politicians. They work for the unit, not for you (although officially they should)

2 County employees and civil servants are not rewarded for their creativity and "go get it done" attitude, but instead work for their pensions.

After the prior two statements, I am usually a great relationship with county employees and officials.

But you must understand where they come from. County employees are often in places where there is no way for them to advance to a higher position. They are case workers, or customer service staff and supervisors (if any) is usually in his / her position for many years or just a supervisor is an elected official him / herself. Because there is nowhere to go and their job is pretty much the same year, a year, they tend to be kind of individuals who work to pay bills and benefits. Life in their point of view we live in after work and on weekends.

That's fine, but it kind of goes against what you want to accomplish when you get there. If you want help, assistance, questions answered, paperwork processing, etc. and above all in the fastest possible time. It is a dilemma.

However, in my experience there are ways to get things done quickly. One thing county officials and employees not caring (as well as any other human being) is a good honest praise and thanks. So, whenever you deal with county staff make sure you thank them, and if someone is not something out of the ordinary who have not had to do for you, then send them a small card or a box of chocolates. It's not a bribe, it's just an honest thank you

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Because you know what the position of county workers are in you can all have a higher level of assessment, if they actually do something faster and more efficiently than duty requires. I have learned over time that thank you note or a box of chocolate goes way. One time I sent a little card just because the person in the county really bent over backwards for us to make some things happen in a couple of days that would otherwise take several weeks to accomplish.

more than one year and not have to be back in touch with that department, and certainly I did not even think about making more cards. But when I then, after more than a year contact the same lady again, she immediately remembered me and thanked me for the card. She even mentioned that no one had ever sent her a card thanking her for her services, and guess what, whatever I needed to be done was done in lightning speed with a smile on her (and my) face. Needless to say, I'm sure to thank her again, explicitly, and even mentioned that her boss.