Governor Postpones Tax Lien Sale Again

On Oct. 5, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the ban on the city’s tax lien sale for another month. This is the fourth postponement since the start of the pandemic. The governor signed an executive order delaying lien sales statewide through Nov. 3. Without the order, the city’s lien sale on overdue property taxes and water and sewer bills could have resumed in early October.

The lien sale is administered by the NYC Department of Finance, which sells overdue property taxes, water and sewer charges, and other property charges to a non-profit trust. More than 9,000 properties were eligible for the city’s lien sale as of Aug. 17. The agency sends out four warning notices to property owners starting three months prior to the sale, alerting them that the property is at risk of being on the lien sale list. More than 80 percent of owners pay the full amount owed, enter into payment plans, or obtain an exemption that removes them from the at-risk pool.