Dallas City News

A batch of 42 purchase requests for tax-delinquent repository properties is now before Luzerne County Council.

Properties land in the repository if they do not sell in the initial upset auction or subsequent free-and-clear auction.

Sales are encouraged because the county has amassed approximately 1,000 repository properties that are in limbo, with no active owners to maintain and pay taxes on them. While some are sold each year, new ones are added after each sale.

The latest purchase offers are set for discussion at Tuesday’s council work session, with approval required at a subsequent voting meeting for the sales to take effect.

Most repository properties have a minimum bid of $500 for vacant lots and $1,000 for parcels with a structure, although those newly entering the repository after auctions may sell for more.

That’s what occurred with the highest sale price on the list now before council.

Simplicio De Souza offered $3,500 for a vacant lot at 119 Green St. in Edwardsville shortly after the parcel did not sell in the August 2023 free-and-clear auction. The lot is 50 feet wide and approximately 75 feet deep, according to county records.

In the only other exception, Eric Delorio offered $800 each for two vacant parcels on Beech Street in Wilkes-Barre and Main Street in Kingston. He also submitted a $500 offer for a lot on Hillside Avenue in Edwardsville.

All remaining offers in this group before council are for the minimum $500, indicating the parcels have no structures.

Land banks

Blight-targeting land banks have submitted offers for five parcels.

The Hazleton Land Bank wants to purchase four lots on Thompson Street, the listing said, while the South Valley Land Bank is interested in acquiring a lot on North Main Street in Ashley.

Authorized by 2012 state legislation, land banks take possession of rundown and abandoned parcels and attempt to get them back into productive hands.

Multiple properties

As with Delorio, several prospective buyers are interested in buying multiple vacant parcels:

• Antonio George, two Butler Township lots — one on Avalanche Lane and the other off Snow Springs Circle

• Patricia Dueberry, three Butler Township lots — two on Bear Run Drive in Butler Township and one off Snow Springs Circle

• Gail Hines, four lots on Edge Rock Drive in Butler Township

• Gridflow Storage LLC, five parcels on Foote Avenue in Duryea, Railroad Street in Dupont and George Avenue and Sidney and Kado streets in Wilkes-Barre

• Rasheem Squirewell, four parcels — one on Main Road in Hunlock Township, two on Lower Demunds Road in Dallas Township and one on Pittston Boulevard in Bear Creek Township

• Melva and Manuel Luna, three parcels — one on Beech Mountain in Butler Township and the others on Lake Drive and Hickory Hills Drive in Foster Township

Single purchases

The other prospective buyers presented offers for a single vacant parcel at the following locations, the list said:

• Patrick Zeveney, Park Ridge Drive, Hunlock Township

• Mark Makos, Makos Street, Plymouth Township

• Kimberly Hall, Edge Rock Drive, Butler Township

• Joanes do Nascimento Cardoso, Shingle Mill Drive, Butler Township

• Area Realty Transforming LLC, Lily Lake Road, Conyngham Township

• Edward C. Knuepper Jr., Woodhaven Drive, Foster Township

• Brandy Mirth, Brookside Drive, Foster Township

• Ronald, Mark and Matthew Kobusky, Milton Avenue, Plymouth Township

• Lucas Eduardo da Silva Dias, West Main Street, Plymouth Township

• Malissa Bonk, Scott Street, Rice Township

• No Man’s Land Holding LLC, Forrest Place, Harveys Lake

• Curtis Johnson, 22-24 Coal St., Nanticoke

More information

A list of available repository properties and information on all tax auctions is posted on county tax-claim operator Elite Revenue Solutions’ site at luzernecountytaxclaim.com.

Prospective repository buyers can perform more research on where these properties are located by using the Property Identification Number, or PIN, on the online repository report.

The county’s GIS/Mapping Department offers a free online map containing all parcels within the county, and the public can search using the PIN number. A link to this map and more explanation is posted on the department’s page at luzernecounty.org.

Council’s Tuesday work session follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for the remote attendance option posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.