New York’s AG James and local leaders demand de Blasio put the kibosh on lien auctions

Blaming mass unemployment and a flagging economy, dozens of elected officials are calling on Mayor de Blasio to put the brakes on the city’s annual lien auction because the resulting sales could lead to thousands of New York residents losing their homes.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James made the plea to de Blasio in an Aug. 30 letter that was made public Monday and signed by 57 other elected officials.

“We write to strongly urge you to remove small homes from the 2020 New York City tax lien sale and abstain from selling such liens until the conclusion of the COVID-19 emergency,” they wrote. “There are more than 4,700 small homes on the lien sale list.”

A total of about 9,100 properties appear on this year’s auction list, according to the attorney general’s office.