The proposed sale of 31 tax-delinquent Luzerne County properties is up for discussion at Tuesday’s county council work session.

Twenty-eight of these properties have been stuck in limbo in a pool known as the repository because they were not purchased at a first-stage upset sale or a subsequent free-and-clear auction in which all liens and back taxes are forgiven.

Unloading repository properties has been a goal because there are approximately 1,000 in the county, which is more than the number in other similarly sized third-class counties in Pennsylvania.

The surplus is a concern because the county is the legal trustee for these properties while the owners of record have abandoned them and stopped paying real estate taxes, officials have said.

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“As the entity holding the property in legal trust, Luzerne County is liable for these properties,” Tuesday’s council agenda said.

State law allows repository sales at any time. The county tries to sell them for at least $500.

Some of these properties have been lingering in the repository for years because they have “little or no value” due to small lot sizes or terrain that is not suitable for new construction, officials said.

Here are the bidders, along with the properties they want to purchase for $500 each:

• Arthur Parsons, a 0.11-acre lot on Arch Street in Newport Township

• Mark Satterfield, a half-double on Main Street in Foster Township

• Raymond Hrobak, a 0.27-acre lot on Shingle Mill Road in Butler Township

• Juan Daniel Arias, a row home on Ebervale Road in Hazle Township

• Michael DiLauro, a 0.14-acre lot on Clay Avenue in West Hazleton

• Kristley Tineo, a garage on a 0.15-acre lot on North James Street in Hazleton

• Barry and Eileen Lindsley, a 0.19-acre lot on Crooked Stick Lane in Hazle Township

• Gunar Bergholz, an 83o-square-foot house on 0.17 acres on Second Street in Harveys Lake

• Christina and Andrew Popielarz, a 0.14-acre lot on Higgs Avenue in Dallas Township

• Edward and Sandra Appleman, a 0.03-acre lot on Carbon Street in Freeland

• David Hilstolsky, two separate purchases — a 4-acre parcel and a 5.2-acre tract, both on West Eighth Street in West Wyoming

• Steven Santiago, four separate purchases — a double-block house on West Hartford Street in Ashley, a 773-square-foot house on West Walnut Street in Plymouth and both halves of a double-block house in the 200 block of Center Street in Plymouth.

• Katarzyna M. Santiago, two separate purchases — a 500-square-foot house on Center Street in Plains Township and a house converted to three apartments on 0.11 acre on Davenport Street in Plymouth

• JEC Land Trust, a 2.62-acre lot on Ridge Street in Nuangola

• Professional Housing Co., two separate purchases in the Glen Lyon section of Newport Township — an apartment building on 0.19 acre on West Main Street and a half-double on Arch Street.

• Fred and Donna Schwalbach, a house converted to apartments on Oak Street in Wilkes-Barre

• Daniel Domeracki, a 0.17-acrelot on Laurel Road in Harveys Lake

• Hercules Investments and Recovery LLC, a double-block house on Jay Street in Wilkes-Barre

• Four property owners want to buy mobile homes that do not include land — James and Barbara O’Malley, Laurel Run; Dean Summa, Ashley; Robert W. Roberts, Plains Township; and Otto and Joy Kroening, Freeland

Three more purchases

West Hazleton resident Anthony Bonomo wants to buy the three remaining properties through a private sale, which is permitted by state law for prospective purchasers who want to acquire properties that didn’t sell at an upset sale before they advance to free-and-clear auction.

Private sale buyers must accept outstanding mortgages or liens attached to the properties they purchase, as they would at an upset auction.

The county previously allowed private sale bidders to pay half of the back taxes owed as the purchase price, but the county council eliminated that discount last August, saying it was not in the best interest of taxing bodies. Allowing properties to advance to free-and-clear auctions may result in more than half the taxes paid become these sales have become increasingly popular and often result in bidding wars that drive up purchase prices, they said.

Bonomo’s proposed purchases are not 100 percent of the taxes owed because he is asking the council to accept offers he had submitted for the three properties last year before the new policy took effect. If the county rejects the sales, the three properties would continue to a free-and-clear auction.

Here are Bonomo’s purchase offers for three Hazleton properties:

• $1,745 for a row home on East Beech Street assessed at $25,000

• $972 for a half-double on West Oak Street assessed at $41,100

• $1,755 for a single home on Seybert Street in Hazleton assessed at $60,600

Bonomo’s proposed payment of half the taxes was calculated in 2015 after the three properties did not sell in a first-stage auction that year. Private bid offers must be submitted before tax-claim files court petitions preparing unsold upset properties to advance to the next sale. That means 2015 and 2016 delinquent taxes were not factored into Bonomo’s half-tax equation.

The total back taxes currently on the books for these three properties: East Beach Street, $5,235; West Oak Street, $4,278; and Seybert Street, $6,997.

Bonomo has said the discount on taxes is justified to cover costly utility bills, major repairs and other problems left by prior owners. He has said he does not expect to submit more private sale bids if all back taxes must be paid.

The Luzerne County Courthouse
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_luzerne-county-courthouse-1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Luzerne County Courthouse

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

jandes@timesleader.com

WHAT’S NEXT

The Luzerne County Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. The agenda is at www.luzernecounty.org.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.