Almost 2,000 Southern Brooklyn Buildings Endangered By Unpaid Debts

There are nearly 2,000 buildings in southern Brooklyn on the City’s tax lien sale list — 1,410 of which are small, family homes, according to the Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN).

The City’s Department of Finance sells tax liens [the legal right to a property until a debt on that property has been discharged] on buildings if owners have not responded to at least four notices or entered into some sort of a payment plan. This year’s sale takes place on May 12.

The liens are sold to third-party collection agencies, who “can add fees and high interest of up to 18 percent, compounded daily,” the CNYCN said. And this can place a homeowner at greater risk of foreclosure because of “mounting debt.”

Just over 13,000 1 to 4 family buildings are on the sale list across the five boroughs, the CNYCN reported. Almost half of those buildings — 43 percent — are in Brooklyn.

The group notes that households can still get off the City’s tax lien sale list by entering into a payment agreement or securing some sort of an exemption.

Read here for more information from the City, and here for more information from the Center for New York City Neighborhoods.

Buildings Currently On City’s 90-Day Sale List          1-4 Family Buildings

Council District 48 (Chaim Deutsch):                  231                                              141

Council District 47 (Mark Treyger):                     296                                              191

Council District 44 (David Greenfield):               449                                              293

Council District 46 (Alan Maisel):                       777                                             647

Council District 43 (Vincent Gentile):                 199                                             133

TOTAL                                                              1,952                                          1,410

[Additional reporting by Alex Ellefson]