The Shannondale (née Electrohome, 152 Shanley St) | 8 fl | U/C

[ijmorlan]

Given the remediation costs, the City should have taken the $200,000 and run.  Will the sale be conditional on timely redevelopment, I wonder?

I don't think the City was legally allowed to sell the property for less than the tax owing. They have now written off interest on the taxes, so the new selling price is the principal amount.

Which makes no sense at all. A property cannot be sold for more than its worth to a bidder. So conceivably you could end up with an unsellable property, and indeed we might have such already.

I wonder what would happen if one were to expropriate a property with outstanding taxes. Could that work? Presumably the settlement would be set off against the taxes, so no actual payment would go to the former owner. Not a real estate lawyer, no idea how it actually works, just musing.