The long legal road to foreclose a property for back taxes and sell it at auction will reach its destination this week in Cortlandt, while Peekskill officials continue their journey.
Starting at 10 o’clock Wednesday morning, Sept. 24, an online auction of five properties the Town of Cortlandt owns will be on the block. The bidding will continue until Friday at 10 a.m. when the final offer will be posted, followed by two-minute windows for anyone who wants to raise the offer in an online version of the auctioneer with a virtual gavel.
The five properties include four parcels of vacant land and one two-family residence. The residence is located at 9 S. Mountain Pass Road near the border with Garrison and lists a full-market value of $1.31 million.
Debra Carter, Cortlandt Receiver of Taxes, said that foreclosure is a lengthy legal process and a final step against property owners.
“We don’t foreclose or auction off property lightly. We don’t want to take anyone’s home away from them,” Carter said. “We want to give them every opportunity to pay. When they get to the point where we’re about to foreclose if someone wants to set up a payment plan we will try and work with them.”
Cortlandt hadn’t conducted an auction for foreclosed properties for several years but did hold one last year. Properties that are delinquent for more than two years are candidates for foreclosure, a lengthy process that goes through the court system.
When the foreclosure court process is completed, the town then owns the property. The money collected from the winning bids goes to the court, which then dispenses the proceeds to the town. The winning bidder does not owe any of the back taxes.
Peekskill Tackling Millions in Back Taxes
Peekskill Herald has reported that the City of Peekskill is owed more than $3 million in delinquent property taxes and fines. The city hasn’t conducted a sale of foreclosed properties since 2019, before the covid crisis.
The legal steps needed to finally hold an auction is continuing according to City Manager Matt Alexander, who told the Herald this week that he is targeting mid-winter to late winter. “We are fully engaged in the process and have been given every indication that the court would support that timeframe,” Alexander said.
The city is working to identify any persons or entities that might have an interest in the properties that are long delinquent in the payment of their taxes. Once they are identified (i.e. banks, relatives of deceased persons, etc.), proceedings can begin before the New York State Supreme Court, Westchester County.
Notice is then provided by certified mail, regular mail, publication in the newspaper, as well as posting in various City and County offices. After filing, interested parties will be provided a period of no less than six months to answer and appear prior to the City seeking an order from the Court. Thereafter, the City may seek to auction off some or all of the properties.
The largest delinquent taxpayer on the city’s In Rem list is 200 North Water St. Equities LLC, owing $337,471, according to the City of Peekskill Finance Department. The firm owns the 200 N. Water St. building that rents space to the Jan Peek Homeless Shelter.
The second largest new tax delinquent on a list the Herald received from the city in February was New York Pizzeria at 824 Washington St., with back taxes of $133,101. The building hosts a restaurant at the corner of Washington Street and Homestead Avenue.
Other new properties added to the February In Rem list include Joey Enterprises LLC, 323 N. Division St., $72,257; Shannik Zuhair, 3 Scofield Court, $55,278; and Siniscalchi Onofrio, 225 N. Division St., $47,867.
The largest delinquent taxpayers that appeared on the list first reported by the Herald in March 2024 include: 104 S. Division LLC at 104 S. Division St., $260,612; Central Hudson Realty Inc., 231 Washington St., $225,793; Clinton Fund B Trust, 730 N. Division St., $176,346; and Louis J. Varricchio II, 116 Lakeview Drive, $157,037.
The town of Cortlandt tax foreclosure real estate auction is being conducted online by Absolute Auctions & Realty Inc. of Pleasant Valley, N.Y. Information about the process is available here.
Information on how to register to become a qualified bidder and how the process works is available at NYSAuctions.com. The five Cortlandt properties are: 9 S. Mountain Pass Road; vacant land on South Mountain Pass Road; vacant land on Hillview Court; vacant land on Lakeview Avenue; and vacant land at 2 Lafayette St.
Bidders should contact town officials with questions about the parcels. “Do your due diligence, ask what taxes would be, make sure it’s a buildable lot,” Carter said.
