Politics & Government

Tell Us: Is It Right to Foreclose on Delinquent Properties?

The town of East Windsor is moving to foreclose on four properties on which back taxes have been owed for more than 15 years.

There are at least four parcels in East Windsor that have collected in excess of 16 years' worth of delinquent taxes and each of them has an good chance of being re-sold if the town takes ownership of them, according to the tax collector.

In an effort to resolve more than 100 delinquent real estate accounts, Tax Collector Kim Lord has been working with a local attorney to collect taxes and interest on delinquent properties. Thus far, Lord has successfully collected $1 million to add back into the town coffers.

There are some properties, though, that are ridiculously hard to collect on because the owners cannot be found or the true ownership cannot be determined.

Find out what's happening in Windsor Locks-East Windsorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When it comes to properties such as these, Lord said that spending the $3,000 per parcel, for a total of $12,000, is well worth the money, particularly because the four parcels in mind have the best opportunity to recoup any money spent on the foreclosures, and possibly the debt owed, by re-selling them.

The parcels range in size from just less than 1.5 acres on Rice Road to slightly more than 6.5 acres on Winkler Road, according to a March 8 article in the Manchester Journal Inquirer.

Find out what's happening in Windsor Locks-East Windsorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The question is, should the town get into the business of foreclosing on properties for delinquent taxes and then flipping them to a new owner? The chances are that the town will not recoup what it's owed during the foreclosure process, but there is a chance it will at least make back the money spent on the process and begin to collect on the properties once again. Tell us what you think the town of East Windsor should do.


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