News
Northeast Revenue Service boosting Luzerne revenue
June 3, 2012
By Dave Janoski (Staff writer) This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
WILKES-BARRE - In 2010, Luzerne County privatized its Tax Claim Bureau, which collects back taxes and seizes and auctions properties for delinquent taxes, following revelations that politically connected landowners had escaped tax sales despite owing several years' worth of taxes.
The company hired to take over the bureau, Northeast Revenue Service LLC, has increased collections, boosting the county's annual revenue from back taxes and tax sales by more than 20 percent. But $16 million in delinquent county, school and municipal taxes, some dating from the 1980s, remain unpaid.
Vacant lot near courthouse among properties in back-tax sale
March 27, 2012
City won’t reclaim $61,000 in funding used to raze buildings on site in 2004.
By Jennifer Learn-Andes This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Wilkes-Barre demolished dilapidated row homes on this North River Street property near the county courthouse in 2004. The privately owned vacant site is listed in the free-and-clear portion of the Luzerne County back-tax auction on April 12, with bids starting around $1,000.A Wilkes-Barre parcel with unpaid property taxes dating back 17 years is among 260 Luzerne County properties slated for back-taxauction on April 12.
The 0.46-acre vacant lot on North River Street near the county courthouse once housed deteriorated brick row homes demolished by the city in 2004.
Diomena Minichello had purchased the property in 1993 and started defaulting on the property taxes in 1995, county records show. Her son, Michael, inherited the property after her death in 2003, and the back-tax tab has escalated to $138,512.
Two river islands set for free-and-clear sale
March 19, 2012
By Jennifer Learn-Andes This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Luzerne County tax claim operator John Rodgers had no idea people could own Susquehanna River islands until two of them cropped up on the back-tax auction list last fall.
Constables must post properties slated for tax sale, and Rodgers’ company, Northeast Revenue Service LLC, was informed a boat would be necessary to complete the job because islands were involved.
Back-tax strategy proposed in county
March 30, 2013
By Jennifer Learn-Andes This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Luzerne County’s private tax claim operator plans to pitch a plan to county officials that could increase revenue by about $1.5 million for taxing bodies and allow properties to be sold sooner if owners don’t pay real estate taxes.
The program, which tax claim operator Northeast Revenue Service LLC implemented this year in Montgomery County, would put liens on delinquent properties if owners don’t pay in full or get on payment plans by Feb. 21 or some other date chosen by the county each year.
The liens would require delinquent property owners to start paying an additional 5 percent fee to cover county tax claim operational costs — an expense currently covered by school districts and municipalities, said Northeast Revenue President John Rodgers, an area attorney. The county’s portion of this fee is waived as part of its operational agreement with Northeast Revenue.
New company takes on collection of Scranton's delinquent real estate taxes
August 26, 2011
thetimes-tribune.com
By Josh Mrozinski (Staff Writer)
Scranton has a new collector of delinquent real estate taxes.
Northeast Revenue Service LLC, which boasts a collection rate of 86 percent with clients in Luzerne County, signed a contract with the city on Thursday.