Calling all real estate investors who are looking to pick up good deals on a wide range of houses in Erie County. Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz has announced that a Tax Foreclosure Auction will be held on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 in the Mason O. Damon Auditorium in the Downtown Central Library. Hopefully we will continue to see more delinquent properties picked up by the same organizations and people who are currently making giant inroads on the West Side of the city.
In the three previous auctions, housing foreclosures have netted over $18,000,000 for Erie County, and have returned 145 homes and businesses back to the tax base. “Erie County must stay active in the foreclosure process, both to work with residents and homeowners who may need help to stay in their house and to work with community groups looking to solve the problem of abandoned, tax-delinquent properties that dot their neighborhoods,” said Poloncarz. “We will always work with homeowners to help them stay in their homes, but no one should ignore their tax obligations or feel that the rules do not apply to them. As with other auctions, this auction seeks to bring delinquent properties back to the tax rolls, settle accounts and ensure that these properties do not continue to be a drain on hard-working taxpayers and homeowners across the county.”
Earlier this year, Poloncarz sited 500 tax-delinquent properties, many of which have since paid their debts to the county ($7 million to date). The rest will be listed at the Foreclosure Auction – properties include a wide spectrum of opportunities, from gut jobs to “sprucer uppers”. “Auctioning the property is always a last resort, and only happens when we have exhausted every other possible avenue for returning the property to the tax rolls,” said Joseph Maciejewski, Director of the Real Property Tax Services Department. “We can work with individuals facing long-term unemployment or serious health issues, but scofflaws or habitual filers for bankruptcy should be aware that their tax-delinquent properties will be sold. Their actions are not fair to the large number of residents who play by the rules and pay their taxes on time.”
*The Foreclosure Auction will be held in the Mason O. Damon Auditorium in the Downtown Library, with doors opening at 8:30 AM and the auction commencing at 9:30 AM. A list of properties to be auctioned, terms of sale, and online registration for the event can be found at http://www2.erie.gov/ecrpts/ .
Lead image: House on Normal Avenue – PUSH Buffalo, in partnership with Housing Visions. Many of the houses that we are seeing completely refurbished on the West Side were, at one time, held by the City and Erie County