Luzerne County has received a $15,100 bid to purchase this one-story Foster Township residential structure, as photographed in 2004 for county assessment records.
Luzerne County government assessment photo
After Luzerne County’s popular August free-and-clear tax sale last year, 25 properties went into the repository pool of unsold parcels because the bidders failed to pay.
Now some of these properties have attracted new bidders, but at lower dollar amounts, analysis of county records shows.
County council is set to vote on these sales Jan. 25 as part of the latest batch of 53 proposed repository purchases.
The top five highest repository purchase prices before council all involve properties that previously had bidders who did not pay at the August sale.
According to multiple county records:
One of the five, a one-story residential structure in Foster Township, had been listed at a starting bid around $1,900 in the Aug. 12 free-and-clear auction. Properties advance to this sale because there were no bidders at a first-stage “upset” auction.”
A New York bidder prevailed at auction with a $45,000 bid but did not pay.
When this happens, bidders are banned from participating in future county delinquent tax sales, according to county tax claim overseer Elite Revenue Solutions LLC.
A failure to research prospective purchases in advance has been cited as one of the main reasons some bidders fail to pay.
It’s a contrast from the majority of bidders eager to acquire free-and-clear properties cleared of liens and back taxes. At the August sale, for example, the bidders of 150 properties honored their bids and paid.
Elite publicly posts lists after each auction so prospective buyers know which properties are advancing to the repository and still available.
Under the county’s repository protocols, tax claim will accept multiple bids for three months after the sale, with bidders required to offer at least the minimum bid that had been listed at the free-and-clear auction. If there are no bidders after the three months have passed, the minimum bid changes to the usual repository purchase price — $500 for land parcels and $1,000 for those with structures, the policy says.
Based on this policy, new bidder Deysis Encarnacion Sanchez has submitted a bid to purchase the residential structure at 1268 Woodhaven Drive in the Hickory Hills neighborhood of Foster Township for $15,100.
Built around 1990, this 1,517-square-foot, three bedroom/one bath residence is on 0.25 acre and assessed at $140,400 for real estate taxation purposes.
Some details about the four other highest proposed repository purchases before council:
• 153 Honey Pot St. in Nanticoke
It had been listed in the Aug. 12 judicial sale at a starting bid of $2,032, and a Hazleton man did not pay after winning the bid at $23,000.
Assessed at $69,000, the three bedroom/one bath house on 0.4 acre was built around 1920. It is 1,424 square feet and also has an enclosed porch and a 1,023-square-foot garage.
New bidder Antonio Mannino submitted a $11,012.12 offer now before council.
• 224 Front St. in Nanticoke
Bids had started at $2,149 on Aug. 12, and a Florida woman won the bid at $40,000 but did not pay.
Sitting on 0.o7 acre, the 3,860-square-foot residential apartment structure was built around 1920 and includes a 360-square-foot garage. It has six bedrooms and two baths and is assessed at $127,300.
New bidder Ruth Adames has submitted a $10,500 purchase offer.
• 320 Coal St. in Hazle Township
Bids had started at $1,460 in August, and a Hanover Township woman did not pay on her winning bid of $30,000.
This 1,140-square-foot mobile home is more than 30 years old and assessed at $21,900, while the 0.21 acre it sits on in the township’s Hazle Village neighborhood is assessed at an additional $31,500.
New bidder Sanchez has submitted a $5,100 purchase offer.
• 14 Mill St. in Plymouth Township
This vacant 0.14-acre parcel had been listed at a starting bid of $2,930 in August, and two joint bidders from Ashley and Wilkes-Barre had failed to pay their winning bid of $10,500.
The parcel is assessed at $10,000.
New bidder Melissa Keefe submitted a $4,025 purchase offer.
Other purchases
Municipalities can purchase repository properties for $1.
In the latest package, Butler Township wants to purchase a mobile home on 0.27 acres at 26 Maple St. and a vacant 3.44-acre tract with no street address that is owned by the Edgewood Terrace Lot Owners Association, records show.
Repository parcels are available for purchase at any time. Sales are encouraged because the county has amassed approximately 1,000 repository properties in limbo, with no active owners to maintain and pay taxes on them.
Some properties have been in the county’s repository for many years because they have access problems, are too tiny to hold a structure under current zoning requirements or have structures too far gone to salvage. The inventory includes retention basins and scraps deserted by developers after they finished projects.
A list of available repository properties and information on all tax auctions is posted at luzernecountytaxclaim.com.
The list of repository sales now before county council is posted in council’s Jan. 11 work session agenda at luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
