At the request of the Steering Committee, our Coalition’s attorney, Robert H. Wedlake has reviewed the Broome County Real Property Tax Foreclosure Procedure with the Broome County Real Property Tax Office.  Although it is important to consult with an attorney with respect to your particular situation, the general Broome County Real Property tax foreclosure procedures are as follows:

           Generally, Broome County will commence a tax foreclosure action after real property taxes have been unpaid for two years.   In general, a landowner will have 26 months from the date of the tax lien (generally January 1^st for the Town and County taxes) to pay the taxes before losing the landowner’s property to the County.  

          Naturally, if the landowner can pay, before the last day for redemption, the past due taxes, the landowner can stop the foreclosure procedure.  However, the landowner should be aware that the County has a policy where it will only accept tax payments in descending order.  That is, a landowner cannot simply pay the most delinquent taxes first to stop a foreclosure; the County will compel the landowner to pay the most current taxes first before the County will accept money to pay the more delinquent taxes. 

          The County has this policy because otherwise, some landowners would habitually pay the most delinquent taxes first to avoid a tax foreclosure and some taxpayers would always be two years behind in their taxes. 

          For most landowners who do not have enough money to pay the entire amount of the delinquent taxes, there is the alternative of signing a contract with County to pay the delinquent taxes (and interest) over a period of two years by making monthly installments.  This contract is called an “in rem” installment agreement.  However, the in rem installment agreement does require that the taxpayer pay 25% of the back taxes in a lump sum payment at the time that the agreement is signed.  The balance is then paid by amortizing the remaining amount over two years with interest at 1% per month.  In other words, the taxpayer will have equal monthly payments for a period of two years which will fully pay off the delinquent taxes. 

        The in rem agreement will also require the landowner to pay (in full) the taxes that accrue after the signing of the in rem agreement.  That is, the tax bills that come out after the in rem agreement is signed must be paid in a timely fashion in full by the landowner or the in rem agreement will be invalidated. 

       Generally, the in rem agreement is available to any landowner; there are some exceptions, principally in the situation where the landowner has signed an in rem agreement in the past, and has failed to comply with the terms of the past in rem agreement.  However, for many landowners, an in rem agreement can allow the landowner to save his or her property and to pay the balance (75%) of the back taxes over time. 

       There are situations where the filing of a bankruptcy petition will also stop the real property tax foreclosure.  However, filing bankruptcy has other consequences. 

       In conclusion, it is very important for a landowner to have proper legal consultation to fully review the landowner’s own particular situation and the Coalition attorney, Robert Wedlake, strongly recommends that the Vestal Coalition landowners who are in this situation seek competent legal advice.