Statement: New York City Must End the Exploitative Tax Lien Sale
The Community Service Society of New York joins New York Attorney General James, a number of City Council members, and our partners in the Abolish the NYC Tax Lien Sale Coalition to call for an end to tax lien sale, an exploitative Giuliani-era practice that saddles low-income homeowners with usurious fees, fuels speculation in the housing market, and harms Black and Latinx communities. An analysis of 1-3 unit home data by the Coalition for Affordable Homes showed that the city was six times more likely to sell a lien in majority Black neighborhoods and two times more likely to sell a lien in majority Latinx neighborhoods, compared to majority white neighborhoods.
Over the course of the last few weeks, the Coalition successfully advocated for 50 faith-based and non-profit properties to be removed from the sale. The outgoing administration must go further, and postpone tomorrow’s sale.
The newly incoming administration, in turn, must develop a public alternative to the lien sale system that would both keep low-income homeowners in their homes, and provide pathways for community land trusts and other means of community ownership.