1. Pennsylvania municipalities collect delinquent property taxes with the county Tax Claim Bureau. The bureau was created from the Real Estate Tax Sale Law (RETSL)-a government agency collecting government revenue.
A 5% fee is collected which covers the expenses to keep this agency running.
2. In the late 1980’s- early 1990’s Portnoff Law was getting established as the father-daughter team that specialized in collecting municipal debts for local government agencies. But the real money came from collecting taxes.
It was around this time when the Senate majority leader F Joseph Loeper was “consulting” for a similar company. He was using his position to push through legislation that benefitted tax farming and influenced the attempts to deter it. He was paid well for his services but after not reporting this income to the IRS and not disclosing the business relationship while participating in law making, he had a brief stay in jail and returned as a lobbyist.
3. Portnoff began building an empire as a predatory debt collector. Practicing in deceiving the local governments and school districts into contracting with them for their delinquent tax collection.
4. They do this according to the Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Act of 1923. It sounds like an impressive piece of legislation written by our ancestors outlining the tax collection procedures. But this was never intended for property tax collection.
In 1996, Alan Portnoff drafted and lobbied for legislation to add attorney fees to a municipal claims. This did not include tax liens
This legislation has been altered over the years, by “for-profit” corruption. The similar language regarding taxes and liens proved to be misleading and was easily passed by lawmakers and their pockets were lined as a reward by the lobbyists.
5. When a house does go to tax sale, it is the Tax Claim Bureau that holds the sale. The Tax Claim Bureau follows the laws of the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. The costs and attorney fees Portnoff tacked on to the tax lien aren’t recognized by the Real Estate Tax Sale Law. Also the proceeds of the sale are paid fourth, not second. This is a municipal claim, not a tax lien.
6. THE DISTRICT WHERE I LIVE CONTRACTED WITH PORTNOFF IN 2000, BY 2008 THE COUNTY WAS SUING THE DISTRICT FOR 323,000 AND APPROXIMATELY 500,000 IN LEGAL FEES FOR NOT SUBMITTING FEES OR DOCUMENTING LIENS AND PAYMENTS MADE BY HOMEOWNERS.
7. The Municipal Claim and Tax Lien Act has been pushed on municipalities and school districts as a miracle property tax collection law that surprisingly has been adopted over the years by many local governments and districts. This legislation exposes the most vulnerable citizens to predatory debt collectors that double, even triple the original tax by attaching their fees to the lien placed on your home.
8. The Portnoff’s had their share of push backs from local communities questioning if their collection scheme was legal. Most reasonable people would be outraged to find out their 400 garbage bill is now 3000 dollars because a debt collector was permitted to add fees to the lien on the property.
9. In 2003 Portnoff Law was in a class action lawsuit for their illegal practices and excessive fees. Another case that mirrored this litigation was Pentlong v GLS (GLS is the “PLA” of Philadelphia). Jane Orie sponsored a bill that allowed tax claims to add attorney fees and made this law retroactive back to 1996. So Portnoff didn’t lose a dime. Jane Orie was also part of the corruption decade. A few years after this enactment, she was sent to prison for corruption, even submitting fraudulent documents in her own trial.
10. Of course the bill passed and the private companies benefited, while the citizens pay for the corruption in politics. This was a green light for more amendments for more profits for the tax collectors. In 2004 more wording was added to specify claims, liens, taxes, fees, costs, districts, private companies, etc making sure to leave no option to question the legality of this law.
10. Michelle Portnoff’s campaign donor list is like a corruption checklist. An investigation to the mayor of Allentown and his “Pay to Play” actions, it was revealed how he accepted campaign donations and sporting events tickets for city contracts. Was it a coincidence that Portnoff Law held the delinquent tax collector position? Always remaining untouchable, Michelle Portnoff testified that she didn’t feel comfortable donating to his campaign but then disclosed the 1000 dollars she recently contributed.
11. The government agencies that subsidize families experiencing hardships are acting against some government agencies that are causing the problem. Local municipalities contract with Portnoff, struggling homeowners apply for help to avoid tax sales, so other government agencies are paying a private tax collector and paying fees for the homeowner. This is a huge loss of money because there was already a government agency to collect delinquent taxes.
12. This also contributes to communities of rental properties, blight, and out of state landlords. House flippers and investment companies buy the property at these tax sales and rent them out but don’t maintain the buildings. Property values will continue to go down while rental costs rise, contributing to increased evictions and more social government programs to be drawn from.
