On Eve Of Foreclosure, Buffalo Landlord Of 8-Unit Building Coughs Up $58K To Pay Off Back Taxes, Then Loses Premises At Public Auction Next Day Anyway Over Unpaid $2,000 'Back User Fees'; Ultimately Forks Over $92K To Buy Back His Own Property From Winning Bidder

In Buffalo, New York, WIVB-TV Channel 4 reports:

• A streak of bad luck put Kevin Judge way behind paying his bills, including Buffalo property taxes, but last October Kevin came up with the money to $58,000 in back taxes on his Park Street property in Allentown, but the very next day, his property was sold at the city’s annual foreclosure auction.
  
  Judge’s apartment building was auctioned off to pay $2,000 in back user fees, which he claims he had no knowledge of–even though Judge had just paid all that money to get his 8-unit property off the auction block.
  
  Two weeks ago, Kevin went to court to try to get his property back, but a county judge instructed him to work out a deal with the buyer, and he did work a deal to pay the buyer $92,000.
  
  It is a lot of money which Judge said he could have used to continue making improvements to the building. Kevin said he has already made substantial investments in the property, “New sidewalks, new walkways, new boilers, new hot water tanks.”
  
  “With the setback of $92,000, I’ve got to see how my finances are, and see when I can get the building looking like I want it to look for this neighborhood.”
  
  Attorneys and others familiar with Judge’s dilemma have said there are simple ways of avoiding this kind of disaster, such as simple notation on your property tax receipt that user fees have to be paid. They say those notations are necessary because property taxes and user fees are paid at different windows at Buffalo City Hall.

Source: Property owner pays dearly to get building back from foreclosure.