In its report, The Other Foreclosure Crisis: Property Tax Lien Sales, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) takes up the issue of foreclosures caused by tax delinquency. NCLC highlights the fact that a relatively small debt (maybe just hundreds of dollars) could result in the sale of the home and a huge loss for the homeowner (and a big windfall for speculators).
The “report looks at ways in which local governments can assist homeowners who justifiably have payment problems, without also increasing the cost of collection or limiting tax revenues. Most importantly, property tax collection procedures should encourage repayment rather than property loss, and they should not provide an opportunity for speculators to gain huge profits off homeowners in distress.”
Read the report from NCLC.