Schuylkill County is backing the attorney representing the company that manages the Tax Claims office at the Courthouse and plans to go forward with its property tax Upset Sale on Thursday.
More than 300 properties are vulnerable to sale today due to delinquent tax payments. In the last week, more than 200 property owners satisfied their taxes and were removed from the list.
The issue at hand is the date on which it is being held. Originally, Elite Revenue Solutions, which the County government contracted to run the Tax Claims office in 2021, scheduled the Upset Sale for Sept. 10, which violates the state’s Real Estate Tax Sale Laws (RETSL). RETSL mandates that sales happen only after the second Monday in September. Sept. 10 came before the second Monday this September.
So, to correct that error, Elite Revenue posted a continuance of the sale to today, Sept. 17, to get in compliance with RETSL. However, critics of the decision to move forward with the sale on Thursday say that because the original date fell out of compliance with the law, the County should be forced to send proper notice to all property owners affected in the Upset Sale.
On Wednesday, Assistant Schuylkill County Solicitor David Rice cited a letter from Samuel Falcone, the attorney representing Elite Revenue, which backs the decision to go forward. Falcone’s letter cites specific language in RETSL which states an Upset Sale may be “adjourned, readjourned, or continued if the sale is held by the end of the calendar year.”
Critics say that because the initial notice of the sale was for a date not in compliance with that law, the law should not apply in this situation.
Rice said a motion for continuance of the sale filed on Sept. 4 was granted by Schuylkill County Judge Andrew Serina the following Friday.
Falcone’s letter to the County Solicitors office further says that property owners affected by the Upset Sale were given additional time to rectify their delinquent taxes because of the continuance.
“There’s no harm incurred due to this continuance,” Rice told Commissioners on Wednesday. “If anything, there was a benefit by postponing it.”
Here are the properties vulnerable to tax sale today, based on a list from the Tax Claim Bureau released on Sept. 16. The sale starts at 10 a.m. and is conducted exclusively online at bid4assets.com:
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