STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Councilwoman Debi Rose will host an information session about the city’s upcoming tax lien sale on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the New York City Department of Finance Business Center, 350 St. Marks Place, first floor, St. George.

Representatives from the city’s departments of Finance, Environmental Protection, and Housing Preservation and Development will be on hand to meet with property owners faced with a lien sale. Properties appearing on the lien sale list may be there because of overdue property tax, water or sewer charges. After a certain amount of time, the city sells the tax liens.

This year’s lien sale will occur on May 15; all tax liens must be resolved by May 14 to avoid the sale.

“Property owners faced with a tax lien sale should take steps immediately to have this property removed from the list,” said Ms. Rose. “Thursday night’s information session is a great opportunity to clear up outstanding items. I urge anyone facing this dilemma to attend the session.”

An additional session will be held April 16 at the same time and place.

Anyone who has received a letter or call that their address is on the tax lien list and has questions should call 311 and state that they have a tax lien problem. The call will be transferred directly to the Department of Finance.

There are several means of removing a property from the tax lien list. Tax abatements and exemptions are two of them. Members of the clergy, veterans, seniors and those with disabilities may be eligible for an exemption to be applied to a portion of the tax bill. Applicable tax abatements may also remove a property from the sale list.

For more information, visit the Department of Finance website at www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/property-lien-sales.page

Those who do not qualify for an exemption or abatement can have their property removed from the sale list by developing a payment agreement with the Department of Finance or the Department of Environmental Protection.

For further assistance, visit the Department of Finance Business Office at 350 St. Marks Place between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, to address property tax and any repair charges.

Call the Department of Environmental Protection at (866) 622-8292 for information regarding water bills.

For more information about the information session, call Councilwoman Rose’s office at 718-556-7370.

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2015/03/councilwoman_rose_to_host_info.html