SEE RELATED ARTICLE ON PROPERTY TAX TOTAL CITYWIDE 

After years of failing to collect unpaid property taxes, the City of Peekskill is going after the big bucks owed by tax delinquents by asking the courts to sell their properties to recover taxes it claims that it is owed.

On March 13, Peekskill Comptroller Toni Tracy filed tax foreclosure lien petitions against 25 properties with unpaid taxes totaling over $1.56 million from the years 2016 to 2019. 

The proceeding against the various parcels of lands is to enforce the payment of delinquent taxes and other lawful charges which have accumulated and become liens against certain real properties in Peekskill.

Property owners who don’t pay the full amount of taxes owed or fail to respond to the petitions risk a judge ordering the sale of their property. Those properties include several single-family houses, multi-family houses, condos, lots, a church, a former auto mechanic shop, and a former funeral home.

Every person having any right, title, or interest in or lien upon any of the real property in the petition may file an answer detailing their interest and any defense or objection to the foreclosure. The last day for redemption of any parcel in the proceeding is Sept. 23, 2026.

Failure in redeeming or answering the petition will result in a person being “forever barred and foreclosed of his or her right, title, and interest and equity of redemption in and to the parcel described in the verified petition and a judgement in foreclosure may be taken by default.”

A notice sent out to homeowners warned that ignoring the letter could result in their losing their home. Homeowners are required to appear in person for a mandatory settlement conference concerning the tax lien foreclosure action on April 21 at the Westchester Supreme and County Court.

City Attorney Eric Gordon told the Peekskill Herald in an email that property owners in foreclosure in the current in rem proceeding have until Sept. 23 to pay all delinquent taxes owed on the property. After that date, the City will apply for a Judgement of Foreclosure and Order of Possession from the Court. Upon receipt of that Order, the City will take steps to begin the process for auctioning those properties, Gordon said.

(Properties are added to the in rem list after taxes are not paid for two years past the due date. Penalties and interest accumulate over time, increasing the debt owed. In rem is a legal term of Latin origin, meaning action against a thing, such as property, or a person.)

The action comes as recent figures from the Peekskill Finance Department reveal that the total amount of unpaid property taxes eligible for collection through foreclosure has climbed to nearly $4 million.  

The sale of properties could help the City of Peekskill ease a deficit of about $1.3 million in the 2025 budget along with meeting other budget needs.

Asked if the city anticipates commencing any similar action against other tax properties, City Attorney Gordon said an additional in rem proceeding will be commenced against other delinquent properties within the next 30 days.

Money owed includes unpaid taxes and penalties accrued

Of 25 tax parcels across 21 property owners, there is a total of $1,562,494 owed. This money includes the unpaid taxes and the penalties accrued up to Feb. 11, 2026. Some have not paid taxes since 2016 or 2017, while others have made partial payments as recent as 2025 or 2026.

The top five outstanding tax bills are: 231 Washington Street, 730 Division Street North, 1415 Park Street, 1715 Prospect Avenue, and 504 Smith Street. The highest amount owed of the 25 tax parcels is over $280,000, while the lowest amount owed is $719.

Several of the individual commercial properties and homes were listed on the City of Peekskill In Rem List 2016–2021, which was previously covered by the Peekskill Herald in 2025 with the amount of tax owed continuing to grow.

One of them, the former’s Hatch Garage at 231 Washington Street, was reported as owing $183,646 by the Herald in 2024. It now owes $282,805, with unpaid taxes dating back to 2018.

The property at the intersection of Washington Street and Hudson Avenue was purchased by Central Hudson Realty Inc. in November 1999 for $250,000. According to land records in the county clerk’s office, Dartley Thomas is the president of Central Hudson Realty.

Another property, the former Clinton Funeral Home at 730 Division Street North, was reported by the Herald as owing $154,688 in 2024 and now owes $131,594. The property has unpaid taxes dating back to 2021 and has not made a payment since Feb. 5, 2025, according to the city’s tax and lien report.

The building sits empty while the Clinton family operates a funeral home in Cold Spring. According to land records, the property was willed in 2015 to the Fund “B” Trust of James J. Clinton, who died in 2006. The trustees are Rita Clinton, James Clinton Jr., and Christine Frasier.

Other properties include 717 Forest Avenue, 846 North Street, 6 Cumberland Court, 633 Belden Street, 202 James Street North, 132 South Street, 1412 Main Street, 22 Bleakley Drive, 1120 Howard Street, 7 James Street North, 1123 Howard Street, 1343 Lincoln Terrace, 1116 Howard Street, 1348 Main Street, 1757 Lincoln Terrace, 1607 Main Street (Christ Community Church of the Apostolic Faith), 1309 Brook Street, 971 Lyman Avenue, an unnumbered lot on Ringgold Street off Franklin St, and 1357 Lincoln Terrace.

As of this writing, no answers to the petition have been filed with the court from the 21 property owners listed on the petition. 

One answer was submitted for a condo at 22 Bleakley Drive, which owes $43,784, by the Woods III Westchester Homeowners Association. They stated they had an interest in the parcel arising from liens duly recorded in the Office of the Westchester County Clerk for unpaid charges associated with the property. 

The association, which owns at least 344 homes on land in the City of Peekskill including 22 Bleakley Drive, said it filed a notice of lien for unpaid assessments in September 2020 against the property owner Debra Nielsen. The association said the property, Nielsen, or both are indebted to the association for $66,296 for unpaid assessments, as well as $71,737 for unpaid monthly common charges.