“The old system enabled debt collectors and hedge funds to make millions at the expense of New York families and neighborhoods,” said Paula Segal, Senior Staff Attorney at TakeRoot Justice.
Although New York’s tax lien sale is intended to incentivize property owners to pay, it can pressure owners to sell to speculators or cut corners with maintenance, without oversight from the city and at the expense of tenants.
In January 2021, in response to advocacy the Abolish the NYC Tax Lien Sale Coalition, the NYC City Council passed legislation charting the course for ending New York City’s tax lien sale (Local Law 24 of 2021).
If the owner still could not pay back the lien, Segal said, they could “decide that they want to transfer the value of their land to the community land trust as a way of resolving the debt.”
