ROCKLAND, Maine — The city became the reluctant owners Thursday of four homes for non-payment of property taxes.
City Attorney Kevin Beal said the city will send out notices to each of the former property owners asking them if they would like to re-acquire the property.
Beal stressed that the city made every effort to contact homeowners before the automatic foreclosure occurred as is spelled out in state law. The original tax bills went out in 2012 and subsequent notices were mailed when liens were to be placed on the properties, after the liens, and before the foreclosure.
Attempts also were made to reach the former owners by telephone but without success.
The most valuable property taken Thursday was a two-story duplex on West Meadow Road assessed by the city at $276,000. The property includes 1.4 acres.
The property had been in the hands of the children of a woman who died.
The amount of taxes owed from 2013 was $5,644.
To recover the home, Beal said the owner or family member would have to pay those taxes, taxes owed in the subsequent years, as well as costs the city has incurred in the lien and foreclosure process. The city also requires that any code violations be repaired before the property could be returned.
The city also took ownership Thursday of a single-family colonial-style home on Broadway assessed at $71,800. The house is located on one-eighth of an acre.
The house was damaged in a fire in June 2012. The fire department estimated damage at the time at $50,000. The owner never moved back into the home.
The amount of taxes owed had been $3,108.
A third home foreclosed on by the city Thursday was a single-family house on Franklin St. assessed at $119,500.
The amount of taxes owed was $2,244.
The final home foreclosed on Thursday was a 1997 mobile home on Second Street in the Sunset Terrace Mobile Home Park. The home is assessed at $26,800 and does not include the land it is located on. The amount of taxes owed on the home was $278.
The only home occupied of the four now in the city’s ownership is the mobile home.
The properties have been added to the city’s insurance policy and the former owners will also have to pay a small amount as reimbursement for the insurance to get the properties back.
If the former owners or family members do not express an interest in the properties, the city council can put the properties up for sale.
Last year, the city acquired three properties through non-payment of property taxes. Two years ago, the city foreclosed on four properties, which the tax collector said was the most in 35 years.