As of Wednesday afternoon, 1,331 properties were eligible for Luzerne County’s Sept. 22 back-tax auction, although the number is expected to shrink significantly in coming weeks as property owners make payments or seek reprieve from a court, said Sean Shamany, of county tax-claim operator Elite Revenue Solutions LLC.
Prospective bidders must register by 4 p.m. Friday to participate in the Sept. 22 auction.
This is the primary annual first-stage “upset sale,” with minimum bids set to cover all back real estate taxes, the estimated 2022 taxes, realty transfer tax and municipal liens. Buyers also must accept responsibility for any outstanding mortgages and nonmunicipal liens attached to their purchases.
Visits to the county deed, mapping and assessment offices are advised to identify what’s included in a parcel before someone bids, Shamany said.
“With this auction, it is buyers beware, because properties are sold without any warranties or representations,” Shamany said.
The list of eligible properties is posted at luzernecountytaxclaim.com. It will be updated weekly and then daily in the days leading up to the auction to eliminate properties no longer able to be sold, Shamany said.
To avoid a sale, owners can pay the portion of taxes dating back two or more years, or everything owed through 2020.
Other options are entering into a payment plan, filing for bankruptcy or convincing a judge that temporary removal from the auction is warranted.
Payment plans require at least 25% of the total owed in an up-front payment and the rest paid within a year, according to state law. Owners are not eligible for payment plans if they defaulted on a prior one within the last three years by missing two consecutive payments, the law says.
Top prices
In the upcoming auction, the majority of bids start at more than $1,000, with some rising into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The highest starting bid — $567,983 — is for a commercial property on Sixth Street in West Wyoming owned by Donald J. Zurenda Sr. and Donald J. Zurenda Jr., according to the latest listing.
This delinquency dates back to 2009 on the property, which is assessed at $610,400, tax claim records show.
According to Elite, the parcel was removed from past auctions due to bankruptcy filings in 2011 and 2015 that are no longer active. The property is now involved in an estate due to a death, prompting the court to grant continuances when Elite had listed the property for sale in September 2021 and this past April, Elite said.
The second highest delinquency — $360,913 — is for a property owned by COLBCO LLC housing the Bentley’s complex on Route 309 in Ashley, county records show.
Assessed at $2.6 million, the delinquency dates back to 2020, with the portion from 2020 totaling $103,068, tax claim records show.
Bidding
Prospective bidders must register sooner and provide more information under a state law approved last year.
Aimed at cracking down on irresponsible bidders who contribute to blight, the state’s Real Estate Tax Law amendment requires county tax claim offices to cut off bid registration earlier so municipalities have time to research whether prospective buyers have code violations or landlord license revocations.
Bidders also must submit more information to register. Details are posted on the tax claim site.
The Sept. 22 tax sale starts at 10 a.m. at the King’s College Scandlon Physical Education Center, 150 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre.