NYC Suburb May Auction Off 250 Foreclosed Homes

The municipal government in Yonkers, N.Y. is considering an auction of 250 properties that it acquired through foreclosure when delinquent property owners failed to pay their taxes.

According to a report in The Journal News, Yonkers—a small metropolitan are located on the northwest border of New York City—is preparing to sell 17 foreclosed properties later this spring in what will be a series of auctions that will continue through the year. The homes being readied for the auction, which the city claimed through tax lien foreclosure cases and property seizures for unpaid taxes, are mostly in a derelict condition.

Yonkers’ seemingly sudden ownership of the properties follows a three-year campaign by Mayor Mike Spano's administration to prosecute tax deadbeats who have not made payments for the last two years. To date, the city has recouped more than $3 million in back taxes from property owners that did not want to lose their homes.