PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Paula Segal, Senior Staff Attorney at TakeRoot Justice
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Paula Segal, representing TakeRoot Justice and the Abolish the Tax Lien Sale Coalition, testified about the need to reform the city's tax lien sale process. She emphasized the importance of recording city liens in ACRIS to level the playing field between property owners and speculators.
- Criticized the Department of Finance for providing information that helps speculators identify distressed properties
- Advocated for recording tax liens over $5,000 and 3 years past due in ACRIS
- Argued that the current system disproportionately benefits speculators at the expense of homeowners
Paula Segal
0:33:31
Alright.
0:33:31
Thank you so much.
0:33:32
Thank you so much for holding this hearing, and, my written written testimony says good afternoon, but good morning.
0:33:39
And it's great to be here.
0:33:40
Paula Siegel.
0:33:41
I, work at Take Root Justice, and I'm speaking today as senior staff attorney in our Equitable Neighborhoods unit.
0:33:49
We are a member of the Abolish the Tax Lien Sale Coalition, as I think the members of the council know.
0:33:56
The coalition advocates for the full abolition of the New York City lien sale for properties in the city and its replacement with systems that preserve homeowners and tenants' ability to stay in their homes, promote racial equity, and support community land trusts.
0:34:14
I just wanna respond directly, actually, to something that that the department shared, and point out an article that I printed for you all so you can have it.
0:34:23
This came out in December.
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It's called how savvy investors can spot distressed properties before New York City's tax lien sale.
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I used to serve on a city bar committee with Benjamin, the author.
0:34:36
Speculators have all of the information they need to find distressed homeowners in today's world.
0:34:44
In fact, by publishing the tax lien sale lists, the department is providing a clear road map to find all of them in 1 batch.
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We are asking to level the playing field and make sure that individual property owners also get city liens recorded on their individual properties.
0:35:05
If they're in a position where they have a lien that is more than 3 years past due and worth more than $5,000.
0:35:13
That's the same threshold we're using the the highest threshold we're using for inclusion in the lien sale and for putting folks on that speculator's road map that we're gonna publish in February that they're already getting ready for.
0:35:27
So I think anything the department has to say that suggests that what we would be doing by utilizing the powerful ACRA system, which you heard a lot about just now, to let folks know when they have liens due to the city of New York is gonna be harming property owners is just a red herring.
0:35:45
It's infuriating.
0:35:47
So I hope that this council will help homeowners because speculators are already doing fine.