Tax Collections On Massachusetts Repo Homes

Facing reduced state aid and local revenues, some communities in Boston, Massachusetts have taken aggressive steps to address the growing number of repo homes in their areas and collect taxes owed them.

For the period ending March 20, 2009, 596 Massachusetts foreclosures filings were reported, an increase of 153 repo homes from the 433 foreclosure filings the previous week.

The breakdown of the number of repo homes by county for the period are: 41 foreclosures in Barnstable, 4 repo homes in Berkshire, 56 foreclosures in Bristol, 2 in Dukes, 77 in Essex, 5 in Franklin, 43 in Hampden, 8 in Hampshire, 108 in Middlesex, 2 in Nantucket, 39 in Norfolk, 66 in Plymouth, 85 in Worcester and 60 repo homes in Suffolk.

For the period, Bristol showed a 100 percent increase in the number of repo homes, 72 percent in Hampden and 58 percent in Suffolk.

With the increasing foreclosure rates, communities are finding it difficult to handle the number of abandoned and vacant repo homes, make some repairs and secure them against thieves and vandals.

To alleviate the effects of repo homes, more and more communities are taking over abandoned properties that owed them taxes and turnover these properties to developers who will convert or transform them into residential complex.

Boston lawyer Gerry D Ambrosio said that many communities are using the process of tax title to take over a deteriorating area and transform it into a place that will be attractive to homeowners and investors.

Thomas G. Ambrosino, mayor of Revere, said that repo homes are damaging neighborhoods. He said that the citys goal is to clean up abandoned and vacant properties and turn them over immediately to their rightful owners.

In 2008, Revere filed a total of 133 cases in court which forced many homeowners to pay their taxes. The result of this citys campaign added over $1 million to its funds which will help it survive Governor Deval Patricks budget reduction program.

For this year, Revere plans to file nearly 140 cases against delinquent homeowners to collect unpaid taxes.

Ambrosio believed that the languishing economy has forced many neighborhoods to adopt an aggressive collection strategy for unpaid taxes.

According to Ambrosio, he worked with communities of Newbury and Everett to collect unpaid taxes. So far, Newbury was able to collect unpaid taxes amounting to 330,000 and $515,000 in Everett.