Media, PA asked in Business Law, Small Claims and Tax Law for Pennsylvania

Q: Do we by law have to reimburse thitd party company who erroneously paid our taxes?

We paid our taxes last year and they were refunded back to us and told our mortgage co pd them. We do not have an escrow acct. so i called the mortgage co and they said they would not do that and didnt pay for us. Quite a mystery. A year later we get a package in the mail from a company we never heard of requesting money because they made a mistake and told another company to pay our taxes. They since reimbursed that company and are seeking reimbursement from us.

1 Lawyer Answer

A: Depends who they are. There are two theories--one is called "unjust enrichment" and the other is called "volunteer"

See if a friendly local attorney will look at the documents and figure out your legal responsibilities. Morally, most would say clearly they didn't intend to gift you the money, you yourself were surprised and delighted but didn't expect it, so you were unjustly enriched. But maybe I'm missing something so chat with someone locally who can look at the document.

1 user found this answer helpful

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