Arberry pays fees, penalties to avoid his home being sold

Tuesday, June 29, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

Assemblyman Morse Arberry today avoided having his Bonanza Village home sold by Las Vegas by paying $1,340 in delinquent special improvement district fees and penalties, a city official said.

But the Democratic lawmaker would not have lost his house immediately had he not made the payment, Las Vegas Finance Director Mark Vincent said today.

Under state law, Vincent said, a homeowner has two years to redeem a certificate of sale for a property that goes into foreclosure and is sold to enable the city to pay debt on special improvement district bonds.

"I've only seen it happen twice where homeowners actually lost their homes on these SID foreclosures," Vincent said. "One was a $300,000 home for less than $20,000 (in assessments). Most certificates of sale are redeemed.

"The person who buys a certificate of sale does so for the purpose of collecting 12 percent interest a year and perhaps gaining the deed within two years. It's a pretty safe investment."

In such situations, the buyer pays the fees plus retires the entire special improvement debt on the property, which in Arberry's case is about $5,000, Vincent said.

If Arberry had paid his bill on time, he would have owed the city just $236 for six months' assessment on a community security wall that was erected for the special improvement district, Vincent said. The delinquent fees and penalties, however, hiked his tab to $1,340.

Delinquent fees are severe, Vincent said, because any homeowner who fails to pay his portion for a special improvement district puts the city at jeopardy of not being able to make full payment on the bonds for the entire project.

Last December Arberry had to pay $1,033 in delinquent fees and penalties to avoid having the same scenario play out on payments that were due in June 2003, Vincent said.

Attempts to reach Arberry at his home and office today were not successful.