Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Tax lien sales and HDFC co-ops on the warning list
5:23:25
ยท
154 sec
Council Member Justin Brannan raises concerns about HDFC co-ops appearing on the 90-day tax lien sale warning list, despite not being authorized for lien sales. First Deputy Commissioner Jeffrey Shear explains the screening process and commits to addressing the issue.
- 11 HDFC co-ops were identified on the recently published 90-day warning list
- The Department of Finance conducts extensive screening before issuing the list, involving multiple units and partner agencies
- Sometimes properties slip through the cracks due to lack of information or timing issues
- The department will take immediate action to address the HDFC co-ops on the list
Justin Brannan
5:23:25
appreciate that.
5:23:27
I want to ask about where the hell did I put my lien sale question?
5:23:31
Oh, here it is.
5:23:32
I got a lien sale question.
5:23:35
As authorized, the city is not authorized to sell tax liens on HDFC co ops.
5:23:42
Correct.
5:23:43
However, our staff has identified that there's 11 HDFC co ops on the recently published ninety day warning list.
5:23:50
Do you know why those HDFC co ops were included on the list?
Preston Niblack
5:23:54
So I'm gonna turn this over to First Deputy Commissioner Scheer, otherwise known as the king of the Lienza.
Jeffrey Shear
5:24:02
Thank you council member.
5:24:04
So first we want to thank you for bringing this to our attention.
5:24:08
We do an awful lot of screening before we issue the ninety day lien sale list.
5:24:15
We run through processes internal to DOF.
5:24:19
So we involve all the units that touch the lien sale.
5:24:25
Our business centers, our payment operations unit, the lien sale unit itself, our IT unit, and others.
5:24:34
And we look for HDFCs.
5:24:38
We pull properties where owners have homeowner exemptions.
5:24:44
We remove properties that have had outstanding legal issues.
5:24:50
Properties with pending appeals before the tax commission, payment plans, and others.
5:24:57
And after we take that step, we then reach out to our partners.
5:25:01
So, HPD, DEP, sometimes they may have issues with properties on the list that we're not aware of.
5:25:10
We also include the law department, and we also, of course, share lists with the council and with council finance.
5:25:18
And so, all of that goes into a screening process.
5:25:21
Sometimes things slip through the cracks, and we certainly, we want to see this list that you have of the 11, and we will take action right away.
5:25:34
Sometimes we just don't have the information.
5:25:37
So it may be information that the property owner knows, it's not with us, or maybe it's a timing issue.
5:25:46
So we will get right on that, and we will address that.
5:25:49
But we want to assure you that we are cleansing the list as thoroughly as we possibly can and proactively removing any properties where we see an issue.