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Now that May has arrived, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor (OLG) is moving forward with plans to auction off tax-delinquent properties at the end of the month.
Scheduled for May 30 and May 31 at the Great Hall of the Albert Sheen Campus of the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix, the auctions will commence at 8:30am.
A total of 55 properties will be on the auction block,with opening bids starting at just under $4000 ranging all the way to over $60 thousand.
Now that they are listed, owners wishing to prevent them from being auctioned off will no longer be able to begin a new payment plan. Instead, they will have to pay the full value of all assessed tax arrears, penalties, interest and other fees by 3:00 p.m. on May 29.
If this is not done, in-person attendees will then have the opportunity to bid on properties of interest. Those wishing to participate, OLG says, must register online or in person at the Office of the Tax Collector on either St. Thomas or St. John, or at the Leroy Quinn Finance Building on St. Croix. Pre-registration costs $50, while same-day registration is $200.
Winning bidders at the end of auction days will then have to wait a statutory 365 days, during which the original owner of the property in question can pay the outstanding balance on the property and reclaim it. The winning bidders will have to wait out the year until clear title can be conveyed, the press release states. Auctions in the St. Thomas-St. John district will be announced by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
