Toxic mortgage loans, severe weather and unfair property taxes threaten life on Long Island in 2014, and could derail recent efforts to spur new businesses…
There is hope, but few still fail to recognize how key reducing property taxes for individuals and families is for saving Long Island.
Bad Loans Still Rampant in New York
Being one of the last to the foreclosure party souring mortgage loans are still a big issue in New York. Just last week a report from Bloomberg News revealed almost 6 million U.S. homes in trouble, while big banks rush to push off billions in non-performing loans on others. Here in New York regulators just put a hold on the transfer of $39 billion of loans from Wells Fargo out of concern servicers just can’t handle it.
Homeless Freeze
Newsday reports Gov. Cuomo tackling severe weather with tens of millions to be invested in weather systems and studies.
Meanwhile the Long Island Press reveals not only is the U.S. homeownership rate down again, but homelessness is up significantly according to HUD’s 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. On the street the paper says the real situation is far worse than the double digit increases in homeless statistics in the report.
In some cases these individuals are losing their lives to current extreme cold weather. This is while many homes in Suffolk and Nassau County still sit empty and decaying.
Ironically housing and access to showers would help many of Long Island’s homeless turn around and not only be able to support themselves but decrease the bleed from resources and even help to alleviate the wider property tax burden.
Spokesman for the Interfaith Nutrition Network which has soup kitchens across Long Island and three shelters in Nassau County says even “working people are one check away from being homeless”.
Startup NY Sabotaged?
On the other side of the street tech startups coming into NY to take advantage of six figure tax breaks and are splurging on fancy ribbon cutting ceremonies while locals are picking up the tab.
Startup NY could really be the pivot New York needs to become the center of the business universe again. The thing is that if it means more forced out and homeless it will put a bigger burden on neighbors and those already close to insolvency.
More Long Islanders losing homes due to a broken property tax system is not helpful for new local businesses either. Fewer homeless means more workers, a better local economy and less crime all of which is better for business.
The Fix…
We may be able to get better at alerting residents to coming storms with another $15 million thrown at it, but we’re quite a ways off from being able to control the weather. Not even the government has been able to make dent in the big banks which seem perfectly comfortable with just doing whatever they feel like, and this certainly applies to foreclosures.
This leaves the only practical, viable and actionable fix for Long Islanders that want to lower their monthly bills as fighting back against unfair property taxes and filing a tax grievance.
File yours, get on your own feet and bulk up savings, help others to do the same.
Show some love this Valentine’s Day – give, feed, and educate others on their rights to lower their property taxes by sharing this.