County Law May Burst Bubble

The following information was received in an email to one of ABG’s staffers. We felt it warranted posting as ABG is dedicated to improving the Town of Greenburgh. This information is pertinent to the proposed Game On lease at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, on the former Frank’s Nursery site, which the information asserts makes this proposal and land usage illegal! Even though the evidence seems to support this, we know that the law has never been an impediment to The Paul and his projects.

Section 283.611 of the Westchester County Code (Purchase and Sale of Tax Lien Property) states that the Town Supervisor shall (meaning “must”) sell any property acquired by the town by reason of any tax lien.  As such, the land cannot be leased to anybody, as this would be illegal for the Town to do. Lawsuits await.

Text from the email reads:
“It is unbelievable that the Town of Greenburgh’s Town Attorney Tim Lewis, Community Development Commissioner Thomas Madden, and other lawyers such as Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and Town Councilman Ken Jones were not aware of this law (or chose to ignore it) and were about to sign an illegal lease. Even more shameful is the amount of time and money that was wasted on an invalid RFP process and numerous lease negotiations/drafts over these past 18 months.

This is truly another Feiner Fiasco to be added to his resume of Taxter Ridge, Valhalla WestHelp and the upcoming $5 million uninsured lawsuit to Fortress Bible.

Here is a link to the Westchester County Code:

http://www.ecode360.com/

13186132#10143174

www.HelpBurstTheBubble.com”

We have included the text of the statute from the above link to facilitate your reading. If you click on the link above, you must choose between two methods of how you want your screen to display the information. Either choice will produce the same result and only relates to that site and does not change any settings on your computer. ABG has highlighted what is believed to be the pertinent requirements of the statute for this property and proposal. This should not imply the rest of the statute is without merit.

Westchester County Statute:

Purchase and sale of tax lien property.  

[§ 580 of the Laws of 1948, Ch. 852]

1. 

Upon the foreclosure of any tax lien or transfer of a tax lien held by the town, the supervisor shall have the right to bid in and take title on behalf of the town, of the property so sold, provided always that the amount of the bid does not exceed the amount it would be necessary for the property to bring in order to protect the interest of the town, after paying all previous charges in accordance with the terms of the judgment.

2. 

The town board shall have the right and is hereby authorized to grant by resolution easements to the owner or owners of abutting properties in, over, under and across any such lands, property and real estate which may have been heretofore or may hereafter be so acquired by the town.

3. 

The supervisor shall sell, either at public or private sale, as the town board may by resolution direct, and upon such terms and conditions and for such sum or sums as the town beard shall by resolution approve, fix and determine, any property or any part or parts thereof acquired by the town by reason of any tax lien or transfer of tax lien and convey title thereof in the name of the town. Deeds and conveyances thereof shall be by bargain and sale deed without covenant against grantor and shall be executed on behalf of the town by the supervisor. Upon any such sale the supervisor, when so authorized by resolution of the town board, shall have the right and is hereby authorized to take back in the name of the town a purchase money bond and mortgage or bonds and mortgages as a part of the consideration therefor in an amount or amounts not to exceed 60 percent of the sale price and upon such terms and conditions as may be authorized and fixed by resolution of the town board and in enforcing the lien of any such mortgage the town shall have and be entitled to all the same rights and remedies as an individual or private corporation under the provisions of the Real Property Law and the Civil Practice Act and Rules of the State of New York.

4. 

Any such property may be sold on an installment contract of and, in that event the property so sold shall be assessed on the next succeeding tax roll. Upon any property so sold the contract of sale shall provide that the purchaser, in addition to making the installment payments, shall pay as they become due all taxes and assessments so assessed. The town shall not permit the subordination of any mortgage it may hold or subsequently acquire.