Approximately 250 tax-deferred properties in Luzerne County were moved into the hands of new owners through two separate actions last week.
In the first, a majority of the county council approved the sale of 92 properties from the depot – a pool of parcels that had not attracted bidders in previous popular after-tax auctions.
The remaining 159 properties were snapped up by bidders in Thursday's "free and clear" auction, a sale that wears liens and outstanding taxes unless competition drives the purchase price to collect some or all of that debt cover.
Storage packages can be purchased at any time. The sale is being promoted as the district has amassed around 1,000 repository properties in the balance without an active owner having to maintain them and pay taxes.
Some council members wanted to withhold sales of 15 of the repository properties because the county cannot fully screen buyers of limited liability companies who are under no obligation to identify their stakeholders.
A majority eventually voted to proceed with all repository sales in the batch, saying that most buyers have been waiting a long time for approval and that the county may be on shaky legal grounds that are in the middle of the process to change.
However, the protocols for buying tax-deferred property will change regardless of a new law officially going into effect later this month, Hazleton-based Mark Rabo told the council.
The new amendment to the state's real estate tax law requires non-personal bidders to submit an affidavit revealing the name, business address, and phone number of all officials, it said. In the case of limited liability companies, the same information must be provided for all members, directors and other persons with interests in or rights in the limited liability company.
These affidavits must indicate that the prospective buyer is not late in paying property taxes, has no unpaid bills from state utility companies for more than a year, and has not been involved in housing law violations in the past three years.
Similar disclosures and affidavits are required from tax auction bidders through personal registration applications, which must be submitted at least 10 days prior to an auction, it said. The district must provide all municipalities with a list of the completed bidding applications before the auction.
State Representative Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon County, a major sponsor of the legislation, said he recognized the need for the legislation when he spoke to residents and community officials suffering from an increasing number of LLCs that are "dirty cheap" and illegitimate property buy-unseen and then can't repair it.
Municipalities are being forced to waste money and resources trying unsuccessfully to enforce code violations against these ghost entities with a PO Box in another state, and it will take years of crime before these properties can be put up for auction again, Heffley said. The rot also lowers the value of adjacent properties.
The bipartisan House and Senate task force adopted the amendments, he said.
"We have heard from many parts of the state facing this problem," Heffley said of questionable tax-deficient homebuyers. "This should go a long way toward combating rot in communities across Pennsylvania."
Sean Shamany, head of Lucerne County Tax Commissioner Elite Revenue Solutions LLC, said his company's legal counsel was in the process of updating its logs to comply with new laws on upcoming tax auctions and repository purchases.
Shamany expressed support for the law changes.
“The most important thing is that bidders have to register separately for each new sale. There are no more flat-rate registrations for the whole year, ”said Shamany.
In the over-the-counter sale on Thursday, bidders paid nearly $ 2.03 million, including transfer tax, to purchase the 159 packages.
A further 51 objects were not sold. These parcels are added to the repository.
The next tax sale will be a first "upset" auction on September 23, which will see buyers repay all property taxes and take responsibility for all outstanding mortgages and liens.
Information on tax auctions and repository properties available for purchase is posted on luzernecountytaxclaim.com.