The Broome County Legislature is also scheduled to vote on Thursday whether to sell back 4 properties that it foreclosed upon.
One of those is 9 Arthur Street in Binghamton. Volodymyr Kurylo is one of the owners of the house. He and his attorney met with the county attorney to discuss the issue Tuesday morning. Kurylo, who lives in the State of Maine, says it was only late last year when he learned about the foreclosure. That's when he came forward to pay the $14,000 of back taxes and fees so his sister and disabled brother could continue to live in the house. However, a deadline had passed, so he wasn't allowed to pay at that time. At this point, charges are up to about $16,500. Kurylo says the county should credit him $1,450 the family has paid in rent over the past two months. But, he says the county seems unwilling to do so.
Volodymyr Kurylo says, "It was very disappointing and quite infuriating because it seems like the county attorney and the director of Real Property have just made this a protracted and painful process, unnecessarily."
Kurylo and his attorney also say legally the county should have done more to try to notify Kurylo of the foreclosure. A spokesman for the county tells us that the county went above and beyond the "bare minimum" in tracking down the owners of 9 Arthur Street. He says state law puts the responsibility on the property's owner to notify the Real Property Tax Director when there's an address change.
