The New York Mortgage Coalition has provided a grant to the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford-Stuyvesant to help protect homeowners with property tax liens from foreclosure.
CIBS, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based network of 25 nonprofit organizations that focuses on creating a healthy and sustainable community, will use the $15,000 grant for outreach to support local homeowners whose tax liens are scheduled to be sold on May 17, which would result in the home becoming a foreclosed property.
CIBS plans on informing the owners of their rights, connect them with city agencies and help them make payment arrangements to prevent the banks from foreclosing the homes.
On May 2, CIBS will host a “help night” to assist all Bedford-Stuyvesant homeowners who may be affected with property tax liens. Representatives from the city’s Departments of Finance, Housing Preservation & Development and Environmental Protection will make payment agreements on site.
The program also includes a door-knocking campaign to alert homeowners on the city’s tax lien sale list and prepare them for “help night” settlements.
“We funded this program to prevent more foreclosures in an area that’s been very badly hit by the housing crisis,” said Ken Inadomi, executive director of the New York Mortgage Coalition.
In 1997, New York City started selling property tax liens annually to investment companies to generate funds from property tax arrears owed by commercial and apartment building owners. The new lienholders charge high interest rates on the debt. If the debt isn’t paid within a year, the property owners face foreclosures.
However, in 2007, the city also started to sell liens on one- to three-family homes in addition to commercial and apartment buildings. As a result, many low- to moderate- income families now have a greater potential to lose their house.
“A disproportionate number of Bedford-Stuyvesant residents are impacted by this annual New York City tax lien sale,” explained Melissa Lee, managing director of CIBS.
