The Lien Sale Reform and Re-authorization Act approved unanimously March 2, 2011 by the New York City Council could generate increased revenues for the city while aiding low-income property owners, according to a March 4, 2011 article by Robbie Whelan in The Wall Street Journal.
The act caps interest rates that debt-servicing companies can charge and also makes it easier for senior citizens and veterans to qualify for exemptions to help hold on to their homes if they fall behind on bills, the article said.
The article said that Domenic M. Recchia, a Brooklyn City Councilman, said the measure will increase revenue for the city's coffers because it allows the city to sell liens on two- and three-family homes with unpaid bills, instead of just on single-family houses, as has been done previously. "Under the legislation, owners of two- and three-family homes can rack up as much as $2,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills - up from $1,000 - over the course of a single year before the city can sell a lien established on their homes," the article said.
Since 1997, the article continued, the city has held an annual sale of liens relating to unpaid water and property tax bills to investors and the vast majority of homeowners with property in the lien sale pay their bills before the debt is sold. The lien sale typically raises about $40 million each year, the article said, adding that advocates for the legislation argued that homes in the 2010 tax lien sale "were concentrated in poor neighborhoods in New York that have also had high rates of foreclosure."
The act caps interest rates that debt-servicing companies can charge and also makes it easier for senior citizens and veterans to qualify for exemptions to help hold on to their homes if they fall behind on bills, the article said.
The article said that Domenic M. Recchia, a Brooklyn City Councilman, said the measure will increase revenue for the city's coffers because it allows the city to sell liens on two- and three-family homes with unpaid bills, instead of just on single-family houses, as has been done previously. "Under the legislation, owners of two- and three-family homes can rack up as much as $2,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills - up from $1,000 - over the course of a single year before the city can sell a lien established on their homes," the article said.
Since 1997, the article continued, the city has held an annual sale of liens relating to unpaid water and property tax bills to investors and the vast majority of homeowners with property in the lien sale pay their bills before the debt is sold. The lien sale typically raises about $40 million each year, the article said, adding that advocates for the legislation argued that homes in the 2010 tax lien sale "were concentrated in poor neighborhoods in New York that have also had high rates of foreclosure."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
