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Ambridge / Ambridge

Citizen engagement platform for the five communities of greater Ambridge, PA
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forgive taxes for abandoned properties #36

Open chadwhitacre opened 9 years ago

chadwhitacre commented 9 years ago

Kathleen Sabol (I'm sitting in her shop) has this idea that we should make it easier to transfer ownership of abandoned properties in town by getting the county to forgive back taxes, along with the borough and school district. Include a stipulation that tax forgiveness would only be available to residents, not out of town landlords.

chadwhitacre commented 9 years ago

"That's what they were doing in Cleveland."

goldbug commented 9 years ago

Typically, property tax liens are only one of the issues with abandoned properties. There typically are any number of mechanics liens, mortgage foreclosures, and other judgments. Kathleen I'd think given her real estate background might have some ideas on how to clear titles, though I'd suspect the process is not as simple as some government decreeing it so. The big issue with real estate is that the debts and judgments attach to the property and not the individual. It's an English common law principle, and in part the reason title insurance companies get big bucks.

Getting 'CLEAR TITLE' is the key to transferring these properties and re-purposing them. Myself, I wouldn't care who owned it or whether units were owner occupied or rentals. I'd just like to see the property used for some productive purpose and not sit idle.

chadwhitacre commented 8 years ago

Kathleen reports that this may actually happen.

jmkauer commented 8 years ago

Good Afternoon Chad-

Should the vacant property be in the County Tax Claim Bureau's Repository of Unsold Property, there is a probability that it could be acquired and sold by the County for only the costs (ie: typically under $3000). If I can help an interested buyer through the process, I don't mind helping as it could potentially get the property back on the tax rolls, maintained and improved.

Thanks, Joe

Joseph Kauer Borough Manager BOROUGH OF AMBRIDGE 600 Eleventh Street Ambridge, PA 15003 P: 724-266-4070 F: 724-266-9191 www.AmbridgeBoro.org

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 1:40 PM, Chad Whitacre notifications@github.com wrote:

Kathleen reports that this may actually happen.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/Ambridge/Ambridge/issues/36#issuecomment-150301338.

chadwhitacre commented 8 years ago

That's great news, @jmkauer! Let's close this ticket when we see our first sale under these terms.

chadwhitacre commented 8 years ago

@jmkauer et al. Do we know of any sales yet under the new tax forgiveness program?